Waking Up In Vegas
by drowning in technicolor dreams
Summary: A night in Vegas can change everything. Massington. Assorted pairings. R&R! Rated T for language and safety.
1. Please Say Jessica Alba

**Okay, yeah, I know, I have another Clique story going on, but this idea keeps popping in my head, especially when I listen to Katy Perry's **Waking Up In Vegas**. Which doesn't help since I'm so obsessed with that song right now. So I decided to write it down. This will be updated, but not as much as **Collide**, since I will focus on that one…but don't lose hope on this one! I get inspired every time I listen to the song.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Clique series or the characters. Lisi Harrison does. I don't own any brands or places I might use. I don't own songs I might use too. In other words, I don't own anything except the plot. This disclaimer will apply to all chapters.**

**This is slightly AU.**

**.-=Please say Jessica Alba=-.**

The afternoon sunlight filled the room and forced Massie Block to open her eyes. _Ugh. Hangover. What happened yesterday? _She thought as her eyes adjusted to the light. When she could see properly, she looked around the room, hoping one of her friends would be awake so that they could give her something. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't in The Venetian. Another moment to realize that she wasn't alone on the bed.

Derrick Harrington was sleeping beside her. _What the hell?_

She looked down on her body. _Oh thank god. I have clothes on._

Nothing from last night came back to her, no matter how much she tried.

Despite her hangover, she got up and grabbed her bag and left, realizing now that they were in a _motel._ Massie Block wouldn't be caught dead at a motel!

_Figures. Derrick is an idiot._

Derrick Harrington and Massie Block don't have a great friendship. Actually, you couldn't even call it a friendship. They despised each other. Sure, they ate at the same table during lunch, but that was only because of her friends. Her friends were with _his _friends. Alicia with Josh and Dylan with Cam. Claire liked Plovert. Of course, Derrick came with the other boys—they were basically a package deal. Derrick, being the ass that he was, brought Olivia Ryan, his stupid girlfriend with him. None of her girl friends liked her. She was stupid and slutty. Massie suspected that none of the guys liked her too.

"_How do you spell 'cough'? With a 'ph' or an 'f'?" Olivia asked._

_They all just stared at her._

Thank God they broke up during the summer. Massie can't handle Olivia for another year.

Massie can't remember a time that Derrick and her actually got along. It's either they ignored each other, or threw insults at each other.

Massie didn't like Derrick. Derrick didn't like Massie.

_Why the hell was I with him? I'm supposed to be in The Venetian! Not in a _motel_, waking up next to Derrick-freaking-Harrington._

She was in Las Vegas with her friends. And his friends.

They weren't even supposed to be here. They were supposed to be in LA. At least, that's what they told their parents. They said that they would spend the last three days of summer in Hollywood. Their parents said yes and agreed to them spending it without adult supervision. So they got on a plane to Las Vegas armed with cash, credit cards and fake ID's.

o

"Massie!" she heard someone say as she walked in the suite. A mass of blonde hair and tanned skin greeted her. Kristen Gregory gave her a bone-crushing hug.

"Kristen—I—can't—breathe." Massie choked out and Kristen let go of her. "Ohmygod, Massie, where were you? We looked for you the whole night! Actually, Dylan, Alicia, Claire and the boys looked for you and Derrick all night. They told me to stay here in case you came back. What happened? Are you hurt? Did you get kidnapped? Were you with Derrick? Did you—"

"I'll tell you later. I don't know either. I don't remember anything and I have a freakin' hangover." Massie interrupted Kristen's rambling.

"Okay. I'll go call the others."

Massie collapsed on the couch and thought about what she should eat or drink to help the hangover go away.

Ten minutes later, seven teenagers burst into the room.

"Massie! Where were you?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Have you seen Derrick?"

They bombarded her with more questions like that.

"Ugh. Shut up! I have no idea where I went! I'm not hurt and yes, I was with _Derrick_. I don't know why. He's in this motel." She snapped.

"Motel?" Kemp Hurley, the notorious pervert, asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"That's disgusting, Kemp. Nothing happened." _At least I don't think so. Oh my. Nothing happened, right? _

"So why were you together?" Dylan Marvil asked, her eyes sparkling. _Figures. For some strange reason, they want us to be together. I swear, my friends are going crazy. _

"I have no effing idea." I answered.

"Hey, Massie, where's this motel?" Cam asked. Massie racked her brain for the name of the motel.

"Um…Napoleon. Yeah. That's the motel's name."

"I'm going to go pick him up." Cam said.

"I'll go with you." Kemp said.

"Me too." Chris Plovert said.

"I'm coming." Josh Hotz said and the boys left the girls.

"So, what happened?" Claire Lyons asked.

"Honestly? I can't remember." Massie said.

"What do you mean you can't remember?" Alicia Rivera asked.

"I can't remember. All I remember is sitting on a bar, drinking. Then Derrick comes and drinks. Then we have this drinking contest and…that's it." Massie said, pulling the purple leather glove off of her right hand. "Seriously, ask me later…" she said, now pulling the purple gloves off of her left hand. "Or ask Derrick. Maybe he remembers."

"Hey, your ring is different!" Claire said, pointing at Massie's left hand. She always wore her silver ring there, given to her by her older sister, Maxine. Massie looked down on her left ring finger. She's _not _wearing her sister's ring. The little ring on her finger was now gold. Not silver with the letters M.B. engraved on it. "What the hell? Whose ring is this? Oh crap. Where's Max's ring? She's going to kill me!" Massie cried, looking through her pockets.

"We found him!" Cam said bursting through the door. "We didn't even go to the motel. We saw him walking."

"Derrick!" the girls cried out, but Derrick didn't mind them. He walked to the couch and grabbed Massie's wrist, pulled her out of the couch and into the suite bedroom.

"Oooooh!" Kemp jeered.

"Let go of me!" Massie yelled. Derrick let go of her and locked the door shut. "Why the hell did you lock the door?" Massie said, narrowing her amber eyes.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" he asked urgently.

"No. Do you?"

"Well, yeah and uh…you're not going to like it." Derrick said, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. Massie caught a gleam of gold.

"What's that on your finger?" Massie asked. Derrick looked at his hand.

"Yeah. That's what I wanted to talk to you about…" he trailed off.

Massie started to put the puzzle pieces together.

_Cam, Dylan, Claire, Plovert, Kristen, Kemp, Alicia, Josh and Derrick were dancing to the music. Massie was sitting at the bar, drinking. Derrick comes up and sits beside her._

"_What do you want?" Massie asked._

"_A drink, duh." He said, smirking. He turns to the dejected looking bartender and the bartender slams his glass on the bar._

"_Whoa. Dude. What's wrong with you?" Derrick asked._

"_My girlfriend and I were supposed to get married today. I even have everything ready. I have the form for the marriage license. All we had to do was fill it out, go to the bureau and get married in the Marriage Commission of Las Vegas. Then she wakes me up and tells me that she's breaking up with me because she met this rich old man in the stupid casino and she's leaving with him. I mean, what the fuck, right?" _

"_Dude, that's messed up."_

"_Yeah. It is. Look." He said before crouching down to retrieve an envelope. "Here are the forms to be filled out. The weeding rings are even there. I spent two years saving up for those rings."_

_Derrick took the envelope and opened it, pulling out a form and two gold rings. Massie reached for one of the rings. It was real. "It's beautiful." She said._

"_You think so?" he asked._

"_Yeah."_

"_Take it."_

"_What? No. I can't. You spent two years saving up for it! I just can't take it! You can't just give it to a stranger."_

"_Seriously. Take it. I don't want to see it. Ever. Me giving it to you would symbolize the fact that I will move on and find someone better."_

"_Okay. Thanks." She said, looking at the ring in her palm. The bartender—his nametag says Phil—turned to Derrick. "Keep the ring. Heck, you can even keep the forms. Burn it or something."_

"_Cool. I'll keep the forms, but I won't keep the ring. She has the other one." He said, pointing at Massie. "And it's a wedding ring. That's just weird." _

"_Nah. Not really wedding rings if you're not married, right?" Phil said._

"_Okay." _

_Phil looked at the watch on his wrist._

"_Shifts over. Bye, guys." He said, stepping out of the bar._

"_You'll find someone better!" Massie called out._

"_How sad." Massie said._

"_Yeah. Proves how much better guys are than girls."_

"_Shut up. Did you know that autism is sometimes described as the 'extreme male brain'?" Massie asked._

"_Guys are not nerds like you."_

"_I'm not a nerd. I'm just smarter than you."_

"_Whatever. You can't beat me in a drinking contest!"_

"_Yes I can! I'll prove it! Now!" she said before waving her arm at the bartender who replaced Phil. He made his way to her._

"_How can I help you?"_

"_We're going to have a drinking contest." She said, motioning herself and Derrick._

_An hour later, they were both drunk and outside. _

"_You know what would be cool? Getting married, like Phil." Derrick laughed._

"_Then go!" Massie laughed. Derrick laughed along, pulling the form out of it's envelope and calling out to a guy in the streets._

"_Hey, dude, I can't write! I'm getting married! Isn't that hilarious? Fill this out." He said, handing him the form and a pen._

"_Okay?" the guy said. He obviously thought it would just be better to do what the drunk guy said._

"_Name?"_

"_Derrick James Harrington. I'm the most awesome person in the world!" he said, throwing his arms in the air._

"_Who are you getting married to?"_

_Derrick shrugged. "A girl. Ooh! Jessica Alba!"_

"_Isn't Jessica Alba married already? She has a daughter, right?" Massie asked._

_The guy nodded. "Is it you?"_

"_Yes it me! Massie Jillian Block! Isn't Jillian such a weird name? It's meeeeeeeeeee!" Massie said, spinning around, pointing to herself._

_The guy wrote more stuff on the form then handed it to Derrick. He left immediately._

"_What does it say?" Massie asked._

"_Dunno. Can't read it! Whatever! Come with me! I'm getting married to Jessica Alba!"_

"Oh, God. You don't mean…" Massie said.

Derrick reluctantly nodded.

Massie screamed and ran out of the room. She was still screaming while she grabbed her bag. Derrick followed her out, receiving confused glances from their friends.

"Massie! What happened?!" Kristen asked while the others covered their ears.

"Please say Jessica Alba. Please say Jessica Alba. Please say Jessica Alba. Please say Jessica Alba. Please say Jessica Alba…" Massie chanted as she clutched the envelope in her hands. She slowly opened it and pulled out a piece of paper.

Massie froze as she read the paper.

"Massie!" Dylan said, shaking Massie. She grabbed the paper from Massie's hands and froze while she read it.

"Massie? Dylan?" Cam said. He grabbed the paper and read it. His eyes went big as he passed it to Kemp who laughed and passed it to Chris who passed it to Josh who passed it to Alicia who passed it to Claire who passed it to Kristen and she passed it to Derrick. When it reached Derrick, he looked up and his caramel eyes met Massie's amber.

Massie was frozen in shock.

It didn't say Jessica Alba.

It said Massie Jillian Block.

It's not even just a form anymore.

It was a freakin marriage contract.

Derrick's eyes was the last thing she saw before everything went dark.

**So, yeah. That was pretty retarded for me. It seems kinda impossible, but just go with it. The beauty of fiction!**

**Oh yeah, the "Autism is sometimes described as the 'extreme male brain'" thing is true. I didn't put it there to make fun of children with autism. I put it there because I felt like sharing it…extreme male brain…**

**REVIEW!**


	2. Is This Even Legal?

**An update! Felt like updating this while I took a break from updating Collide. Oh yeah, forgot to say that Massie's sixteen turning seventeen and Derrick's seventeen. They're all incoming seniors. Are Derrick's parents' names mentioned in the series?**

**.:Is This Even Legal?:.**

Massie Block woke up to see eight faces peering down at her.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Well, you kinda fainted after…" Kristen Gregory trailed off. Now Massie remembered. She sat up and saw Derrick Harrington sitting down on a chair with his head on his hands. Derrick Harrington, her…she couldn't even think the word.

Everyone looked from her to Derrick and back to her again.

"You know, I expected something like this to happen to Kemp, not you guys," Plovert said.

"Hey!" Kemp yelled and hit his arm. "But, yeah. This is messed up."

"Alicia, is this even legal?" Massie asked. Alicia Rivera was the daughter of Len Rivera, a successful lawyer.

"Well…_yes_," Alicia answered. Massie screamed. Everyone covered their ears, except for Derrick, who didn't move a muscle.

"It's not that bad," Dylan Marvil said, trying to soothe Massie. Derrick snapped his head up and looked at Dylan to see if she was actually serious.

"Not that bad?! I'm _sixteen _for crying out loud! Sixteen and I'm already…already…" Massie trailed off.

"Married?" Claire Lyons supplied.

"Don't say that word!" She and Derrick snapped. At the same time. They glared at each other. She started to pull the ring off her finger.

"Mass, don't!" Kristen yelled. Massie turned to Kristen. "Why not?"

"Once a wedding ring is placed on the finger, it is considered bad luck to remove it!" Kristen explained. She was so superstitious sometimes.

"I don't believe in superstition, Kris," Massie said.

"Well, I do! Please, just keep it on."

"Fine."

"What are you going to tell the parents?" Josh asked.

"Ohmygawd!" Massie said before grabbing a pillow and burying her face in. She screamed again before lifting her head back up. "You do realize that you're all going to be in trouble."

"Why?" Cam asked.

"Well, you're not in LA, are you?"

"Shit."

"Yeah. We're all going to die. Me and Derrick last, after we endure torture."

"You're being a little overdramatic, Massie," Kemp said.

"Shut up, Kemp! This is your fault!" Massie yelled.

"How is this my fault?" Kemp asked with wide eyes.

"You were the one who suggested we go to Las Vegas!"

"You guys were the one who agreed!"

"Ohmygawd, my life is ruined! This'll go on my permanent record and I'll never get into Yale! My reputation will go down the drain and people would talk about me so much that I'll have to run away and change my name to Mary-Sue and since I never went to college I'll be forced to live in a shack doing who knows what just to eat and my only companion would be three cats named Bob, Jack and Moon and…" Massie rambled on.

"Is this normal?" Josh asked Alicia.

"Yeah. This is what happens when Massie flips out."

"…Jack would have only one eye and Moon will have only three legs and everyday I'll wake up and eat then work and I'll suck at my job and I'll get fired and I'll be forced to eat one of the three cats just so that I can survive then the ghost of my cat will haunt me for the rest of my sucky life and Zac Efron would never meet me and fall in love with me and he'll never dump Vanessa to be with me forever and we'll never have two kids named Zac Jr. and Morgana and we'll never live in a white house with a picket fence and—"

"SHUT UP!" Derrick yelled. Everyone turned to face him.

"Don't tell me to shut up, you can't tell me what to do!" Massie cried.

"I can if you're incessant noise is bothering me!"

"Go outside if you're bothered so much!"

"Why do I have to go outside? You go outside!"

"FYI, this is the girls' room! The boys room is across the hallway!"

"Look, they're already fighting like a married couple," Plovert said.

Derrick and Massie turned to glare at him. "What did you say?" Derrick hissed.

"Nothing!"

"I think it's time to go back to Westchester," Cam said.

"Yes, and the first thing we're gonna do is go to the Rivera's house so that we can talk to Len about ending this thing."

xxx

"Mom, you can't be serious," Massie said indignantly.

"I am a hundred percent serious," Kendra Block told her daughter. They were in the living room two hours after Massie told them the _great _news. They just finished talking to the Harringtons.

"Dad?" Massie turned to her father.

"I'm sorry, Massie, but what you did was completely irresponsible," William Block said.

"But…but…but…"

"No buts," Kendra said. "We already talked it out with the Harringtons. They're perfectly fine with it."

"What kind of a punishment is this?" Massie cried out.

"A punishment that you two deserve. Now go up and pack. Derrick's going to arrive soon."

Massie trudged upstairs and collapsed on her bed. Her parents and Derrick's parents thought that the best way to punish their children was to _not _get a divorce and live together in her guesthouse for a year. Massie can't even act like she was living on her property.

Massie looked around her room and started packing.

xxx

"You can't do this! Please, ground me for life! Lock me up in jail! Send me to military school in Canada! Anything! Just _not this,_" Derrick pleaded with his father.

"I'm sorry, Derrick, but you brought this on yourself," Robert Harrington said.

"Mommy?" Derrick asked Pauline Harrington with a puppy-dog face.

"Sorry, honey, but that doesn't work now. It used to, when you were twelve," she said.

Derrick sighed in defeat.

"Now, go up to your room and pack. We're leaving in a few minutes," Robert said and Derrick had no choice but to obey.

The sound of the door opening momentarily distracted him from his packing and he turned to face the girl who was now leaning on the wall with a smirk on her face.

"What do you want?" he snapped.

"You don't have to be so touchy. I'm just here to congratulate you!" Sammi Harrington said.

"Shut up," He snapped.

"I thought newlyweds should be happy, not snappy."

Derrick glared at his older sister. "Aren't you supposed to be in Princeton?"

"I'm going back to New Jersey tomorrow," She shrugged.

"Go do something that won't bother me!"

"Aww, but I wanted to meet my new sister! I always wanted to have a little sister, but then Mom gave birth to you."

Derrick narrowed his eyes.

Sammi rolled hers. "Fine, fine, I'm leaving."

xxx

"So this is where we're living for the next year." Derrick said as his eyes scanned the living room of the guesthouse. The Lyons moved out two years ago and bought a house a block away.

"Yes and I get Claire's old room." Massie said and left him on the couch while she took all of her stuff upstairs. She dumped her bag onto the bed and took out her phone.

**Massie:** how bad have you guys got it?  
**Claire:** grounded for a month but with communication  
**Alicia:** confiscated credit card  
**Dylan:** same as leesh.  
**Kristen:** grounded but with no communication. Im using my old phone. My mom doesn't know I have it.  
**Massie:** I have to live in the guesthouse  
**Claire:** they kicked you out?!  
**Massie:** no. they're making me live with Derrick.  
**Dylan:** as in, like, together?  
**Massie:** yes. I hate it.  
**Alicia:** what about the separation?  
**Massie:** nope. Not gonna happen. At least, not for another year.  
**Kristen:** wow.  
**Massie:** I need someone to come over. Anybody.  
**Kristen:** sorry, Mass. I can't go.  
**Massie:** I know. I understand. You too Claire.  
**Claire:** thanks.  
**Massie:** leesh? Dyl?  
**Alicia:** we'll be right there.

xxx

Alicia and Dylan arrived ten minutes later to the surprise of Derrick and delight of Massie.

"Aren't you supposed to be grounded or something?" he asked the two girls.

"For us, having our credit cards confiscated is equal to being grounded. We would never go out without them!" Alicia explained. She was about to go in when Massie stopped her.

"We're going to the spa. I need it," Massie said. Dylan shrugged and they all made their way towards the old horse shed turned spa.

"First day of school tomorrow," Dylan said as they lowered themselves into the Jacuzzi.

"Ugh. Don't remind me," Massie said.

"So…will you say anything to the school?"

"Hell no!"

"You wanna know what's weird?" Alicia suddenly asked.

"What?"

"You're not Massie Block anymore."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're not Massie Block anymore. You're like, a Harrington now. Massie Harrington."

**Writing about a flipped out Massie is fun. "Zac Efron would never meet me and fall in love with me and he'll never dump Vanessa to be with me forever…"**

**I love Zac Efron. Did you know that he has a 4.0 GPA?**

**Tell me if you loved it.**

**Tell me if you hate it.**

**Tell me if it rocks your socks.**

**Tell me if Hollywood should make a movie with Zac Efron and Chace Crawford and Kellan Lutz and Taylor Lautner and every other hottie in Hollywood and call it 'TMTEGITWWW' or 'The Movie That Every Girl In The World Would Watch."**

**REVIEW**


	3. I Really Hate You

**~I really hate you~**

"C'mon! Hurry up! We're going to be late!" Derrick Harrington said, banging his fist on the bedroom door.

"Fine, fine, I'm coming!" Massie Block said, grabbing her purse and yanking the bedroom door open to face an annoyed blonde.

"We're gonna be late." He said. Massie looked at the watch on her wrist. They had an hour more before school starts. Late? She raised her eyebrow.

"I have soccer training," he explained as they climbed down the stairs.

"On the first day of school?"

"Yeah. Tradition. We don't really play, but we reunite."

"Aw, how sweet." She said sarcastically.

He glared at her as he opened the front door and she made her way out before him. She slid into the passenger seat of his BMW and waited for him to start the engine. She put on the earphones of her iPhone and listened to music.

The car ride was silent until Derrick made an unfamiliar turn.

"This isn't the way to school." Massie said.

"It's a shortcut. Danny Robbins, the Tomahawks team captain last year, told me about it." He said.

Massie shrugged. "Whatever."

It grew silent again. Massie was surprised that the silent wasn't awkward. It was even comfortable. She just shrugged it off.

After a few songs, Massie was surprised at how long this 'shortcut' was. She counted how many songs she'd listened to. It usually took her approximately seven songs till she got to school, but she's on her thirteenth song now. She turned off the music and turned to Derrick.

"Are you sure this is a shortcut?"

"Yeah. Danny told me so."

Massie glanced at her watch. They had to be in school by nine minutes if they wanted to be on time. Derrick already missed his first-ever practice as the Tomahawks captain.

Derrick's phone buzzed. Without a second thought, he grabbed it from his pocket.

"Don't text and drive!" Massie said.

"I do this all the time."

"I don't care. It's either you put in back in your pocket or I read the message."

He glared at her before putting his phone back in his pocket.

"Where the hell are we anyway?" she asked looking at her surroundings. She's never been to this part of Westchester before. It was all road and trees and _green._

Derrick was silent.

Massie stared at him before realization dawned on her.

"We're lost, aren't we?"

He kept quiet.

"Ohmygawd, Derrick, tell me we're not lost."

"We're not lost."

"Tell me like you mean it."

He kept quiet.

"Great. This is just great. First day of school, and we're lost and—Ohmygawd! I forgot! I'm senior class president! I'm supposed to give a speech during the start of school assembly! I forgot to make one!"

"Look on the bright side," he said, "you won't have to go worry about a speech."

"That is the worst 'look on the bright side' line I have ever heard in my entire life." Massie snapped before her phone vibrated on her lap.

Dylan: where r u? Kristen had 2 give the speech.  
Massie: tell her thanks.  
Dylan: she said thts wat vice pres are for. Where r u?  
Massie: I hve no freakin idea  
Dylan: wat? Boys r looking 4 derrick. Said he missed practice.  
Massie: thanks to derrick, we're lost.  
Dylan: LOST?!

Massie: yeah.

Dylan: wat do u mean lost?

Massie: we hve no idea where we are.

Dylan: cam's calling derrick

"Cam's calling," she said just as his phone started vibrating.

"Derrick?"

"Yeah?"

"What the hell? How in the world do you get lost while driving to _school?_"

"I followed Danny's shortcut."

"Shortcut?"

"Yeah. The one he told us about during summer."

Cam surprised Derrick by laughing.

"There's nothing hilarious about this!"

"There is. He takes that shortcut to go to Putnam County to see his girlfriend, you idiot."

"PUTNAM COUNTY?" he yelled into the phone, slamming the brakes, sending Massie forward. Thankfully, she was wearing her seatbelt and she stopped the fall with her hands.

"Yes. You are now heading to Putnam County."

"What the hell? I've never been there!"

"Well, too bad for you. You're going there now."

"Shit."

"Don't worry D. I'll cover for you and Dylan can cover for Mass."

"That doesn't help me!"

"I can't really help you now, can I? I've never been to Putnam either."

"Damn."

"Bye, D."

"CAM!"

But Cam already hung up. Derrick looked at Massie; she looked _really _pissed. Like a volcano about to erupt.

"Putnam. County?" she asked with narrowed eyes. He slowly nodded. Massie closed her eyes and took deep yoga breaths. "As much as I would like to yell at you 'til your ears bleed, I won't because I need to save my voice so that I can tell everyone how much of a fucking idiot you are."

"I know."

"And if your ears bleed, you won't hear me say I hate you."

"I figured you would."

"Good."

"Now what do we do?"

"Turn around and go back the way we got here."

"Yeah, about that, I don't remember how we got here. I kind of just took random turns."

"I really, really, _really _hate you."

**~O~**

"Derrick, I'm hungry." Massie said, looking out her window. She spotted a diner. "STOP THE CAR!"

Derrick, surprised by Massie's outburst, slammed his foot on the break. "What?!"

"Look! It's a diner!"

"Oh."

"Come on. I'm starving. I didn't eat breakfast!" Massie said while going out of the car. Derrick followed after turning the engine off.

"How do you know if it's even safe?" he asked.

"Right now, I don't really care. As long as I can eat something."

"You're the first girl who ever admitted to being hungry in front of me."

"That's because I'm starving and desperate for food. And, you should get used to it since we live together and you _will _see me eat," she said opening the door to hear the bells ring. She walked towards a booth and slid on a seat, Derrick sitting in front of her.

"Hello, my name is Lisa and here are some menus." A girl about their age said, smiling at Derrick as she gave him a menu and subtly giving Massie a once-over.

"I'll have some fries, two slices of pepperoni pizza and a Coke." Massie said, giving her smile just a little bit of venom.

"And you?" Lisa said, smiling at Derrick again and batting her eyelashes just a little bit.

"Same." He said and Lisa left to get their orders.

"Ugh. She was totally hitting on you." Massie said.

"I know."

"I don't see why."

"Don't be such a hypocrite. You're the one who married me, remember?"

"Shut up! We were drunk and it was an accident!"

"Sure."

"I'm not talking to you anymore."

"You will. I mean, who can resist?"

Massie was about to retort when Lisa came back with their orders. She smiled at Derrick as she put his plate in front of him and gave a little glare at Massie. Her stomach grumbled and she put a fry in her mouth. Pretty soon, the were done and Derrick was calling Lisa over to ask about ice cream.

"Yes?" she smiled.

"Do you have ice cream here?" he asked.

"Of course."

"Okay, well, I'll have a chocolate sundae and," he turned to Massie, "_Honey, _what will you have?" he asked.

Massie gave a little smirk at how the waitress's eyes grew wider at the word.

"Strawberry."

"Coming right up," she said before walking away.

"Don't ever call me 'honey.'"

"Don't pretend you didn't like it."

"I'm still mad at you for getting us lost."

"At least you're talking to me now. I told you, you can't resist me."

Massie rolled her eyes and waited for her ice cream. After about two minutes it came and she saw Derrick's eyes sparkle. Despite of herself, she smiled at how something as simple as _ice cream _can make him happy.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Nothing."

**There ya go! Chapter three of the wonderful adventures of Massie and Derrick! Woohoo! **

**When we got lost in this village my dad took random turns…he said that the roads all lead to an exit…eventually, we got out…but it was still weird.**

**REVIEW!!!**


	4. As The Thunder Starts To Crash

**Song is Before The Storm by Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus. I don't care if you don't like them (not a big fan of Miley either. I don't hate her, I don't like her). I love the song so much. Listen to it. Sorry if I got the lyrics wrong. I'm just listening to it, then pause, type, play, listen…yeah, you get the picture. I don't own it. **

**.:As The Thunder Starts To Crash:.**

"_Trying to keep the light from going out, and the clouds are ripping out my broken heart, we always say, a heart is not whole, without the one who gets you through the storm…standing out in the rain, knowing that it's really over, please don't leave me alone…flooded with all this pain, knowing that I'll never hold you, like I did before the stor—," _Massie Block(Harrington) sang.

"Gosh, stop singing." Derrick Harrington cut in.

"That was a good part!" Massie complained.

"I'm trying to watch soccer!"

"What is it with you boys and watching sports on TV?"

"We're awesome."

Massie rolled her eyes and finger-tapped her iPhone to repeat the song. "_I know this isn't what I wanted, I never thought it'd come this far, was thinking back to where we started, and how we lost all that we are…we were young and times were easy, but I could see it's not the same. Standing here but you don't see me, I'd give it all for that to change…"_

"I'm trying to watch TV!"

"_And I don't want to lose her, no, I let her go…standing out in the rain, need to know if it's over, cause I will leave you alone, I'm flooded with all this pain, knowing that I'll never hold her, like I did before the storm…"_

"Shush!"

"_With every strike of lightning, comes a memory that lasts, not a word is left unspoken, as the thunder starts to crash…maybe I should give up…"_

"Yeah, you should."

"_Standing out in the rain, need to know if it's over, cause I will leave you alone, I'm flooded with all this pain, knowing that I'll never hold her, like I did before the storm…"_

"Shut up!"

"Make me!"

"_Keep, the lights from going out, and the clouds are ripping out my broken heart—"_

But Massie was cut off by Derrick's warm lips on hers. He pulled away and Massie stared at him.

"Well, that stopped your horrible singing," he said and Massie was instantly overcome by annoyance. If there was one thing she was sure of, it's that she could sing!

"Horrible singing? God, Derrick, you steal my first kiss and you insult me. What kind of a guy are you?"

"Are you kidding me? You're sixteen years old and _that _was your first kiss? That wasn't even a kiss! That was just something to shut you up!" he laughed.

"You really are an ass, you know that?" Massie said before standing up and heading to her room. She slammed the door _hard _behind her and sat on her bed. She looked around her room, taking in deep yoga breaths as she tried to calm down. She spotted a picture of her sitting down on the cafeteria table. She was surrounded by her friends and _him. _She grabbed the picture and scissors and cut him out. She then proceeded to puncture his _'perfect' _face with her red pen.

"Block?" he asked from the other side of the door, using that nickname he used for her. She didn't say anything, but she put tape on top of the ruined picture and opened the door. He gave a small smile when he saw her head, but the smile disappeared when her arm came out and stuck the picture on his hair that was over his forehead. He took the picture and his eyes grew wide when he saw it. Massie gave a small smirk as she saw his expression but she quickly shut the door in his face.

"Well, that didn't go well," she heard him say. _Of course it won't go well. What he did would get him at least a week of the cold shoulder and he'll have to wait a few years to be forgiven. That was my first kiss! How dare he do that?! Stealing my first kiss just to stop my 'horrible singing' then laughing at my face! Ugh. He is so annoying._

After her little head rant, she decided to just go to bed to let her anger pass.

~*~*~*~

The sound of the hard rain splattering down on the roof woke Massie up. She got up off the bed and made her way into the kitchen, where she was surprised to see Derrick eating. Well, she was surprised that he was awake, but she wasn't surprised that he was eating. How the hell does eat so much and still maintain a fit and muscled body?

"What are _you _doing up?" he asked.

"The rain. Rain wakes me up. I don't know why, but every time it rains, I always wake up," she shrugged, opening the fridge to get water.

"That's weird."

She was about to respond when she remembered that she wasn't talking to him, so she kept quiet.

"Cold shoulder, eh? Fine," he said and put a spoonful of Lucky Charms in his mouth. Massie kept quiet, drinking her water, not even looking at him. She slammed her glass hard on the kitchen island and opened the cupboard to get the box of Lucky Charms. The box was empty. He ate all the Lucky Charms. She glared at him while chewed, a smug smile on his face.

"I hate you."

"I thought you weren't talking to me."

She continued to glare at him, but all the annoyance that was directed at Derrick was pushed out of her mind when the thunder clapped. She jumped and let out a small whimper. Derrick tilted his head to the side and looked at her curiously.

"Are you scared of thunder?" he asked.

Massie kept quiet.

"You are, aren't you?"

She didn't say anything.

"Whoa. Massie Block, sixteen years old, got her first kiss stolen this evening, is afraid of thunder."

"I am not! I am _not_ afraid of thu—,"but she was cut off by the thunder and her heart skipped a beat.

"Yes you are!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

The thunder crashed again and she jumped a little.

"You're afraid of thunder! Admit it, you are! You're afraid of thunder!" he laughed. "Massie Block is afraid of thunder! Massie Block is afraid of thunder! You're afraid of thunder!"

He laughed even more but he stopped abruptly when he saw her amber eyes. It was full of fear.

"You're really scared, aren't you?

She gave a small nod as the thunder clapped again.

"How long have you been scared?"

"Since I was a little girl," she whispered.

"Well, do you need anything?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I just need to let it pass."

He walked around the kitchen island to where Massie was standing and wrapped his arms around her.

"Whenever I get scared, my mom hugs me," he explained.

"Thanks," she murmured.

They stayed like that for a good five minutes until the storm subsided a little.

"About what happened earlier…" he started.

"Can we forget it ever happened?" Massie said.

"Yeah. And I'm sorry I did that."

"If you never did this, I would have never forgiven you."

"Can we keep this quiet too? If word gets out that I did this, the boys will tease me my whole life."

"Yeah… I'll never hear the end of it when I tell the girls about his too."

"Now, I want to finish my Lucky Charms," he said before walking back to his original position.

"I'm going back to hating you again."

"Why? After I did something I would never do, you hate me again?!"

"Yes. You got all the Lucky Charms."

"Well, sucks for you."

"But I'm hungry!"

"Cook something!"

"I don't know how to cook!"

"What?"

"I said, I don't know how to cook."

"Why? You're a girl."

"Not all girls know how to cook."

"Well then, how are you going to feed yourself?"

"Cook for me."

"I don't know how."

"I know you know how. You told us last year. Cook for me, please."

"And why should I do that?"

"Please? I'm starving."

"No."

"Please, please, please? I'm begging you."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "Fine."

"Thank you!" she beamed and he got to work.

**So sorry for the super late update. I just started school (school here starts in June and ends in March) and I was busy with school work D:**

**Next chapter they go grocery shopping…**

**REVIEW.**


	5. Damn Fast Driver

**I got inspired. Be happy.**

**It's my dad's birthday, but we stayed at home this year so here I am, updating :D Also, I'm happy today since my school won their first basketball game of the season against their biggest rivals :)) school spirit! Yay! I swear if we win more, we're gonna have a celebration in school. Y'know, half-day and all that…teachers are in a happy mood…less homework…more free time to update *wink*…**

**Oh yeah, I changed my mind. They're not going grocery shopping today. They will next chapter, but I just HAD to write this one down.**

**.:Damn Fast Driver:.**

"C'mon, Mass, you have to go!" Kristen Gregory begged her best friend.

"Why?" Massie Block asked with raised eyebrows.

"That's the only way _I _can go! I'm grounded and my mom said that she'll let me only if you go."

"Why? The others are going!"

"C'mon. You know her and Kendra are, like, best friends," she explained.

"But I don't want to go!" Massie whined.

"You're not even gonna support Derrick?" Kristen asked.

"Huh?"

"C'mon, Mass. You have to support our star goalie! He's your husband!" Kristen said.

"Shh!" Massie said, putting a hand over Kristen's mouth and looking around to see if anyone heard. No one seems to have heard Kristen. She breathed a sigh of relief and let go of the blonde's face.

"Oh, boo hoo. Everyone's gonna find out somehow!"

"No they won't!"

"How are you going to explain those matching rings?" Kristen asked, left eyebrow raised.

"Imma take it off."

"NO! That's bad luck!" Kristen protested.

"I don't care! And what does my bad luck have anything to do with you?" Massie retorted.

"I'm your best friend, duh. Your bad luck is my bad luck."

"Aww," Massie smiled.

"And best friends help best friends watch soccer games," Kristen said with a smile.

"Fine," Massie sighed. "But only cause you're my best friend."

"Yay!" Kristen squealed, wrapping her arms around the brunette.

~O~

"The game is about to end and the scores are 5 for the Tomahawks and 4 for the Eagles. The ball is now with Eagles' striker and team captain, Mark Dawson. If he makes this goal, the Eagles might get a chance to win. If Tomahawk goalie and captain Derrick Harrington stops him, the Tomahawks will win," the announcer said over the loud cheers of the crowd.

"Dawson kicks and…" he said excitedly. "Derrick Harrington catches the ball! The Tomahawks win!" The Tomahawks cheer like there was no tomorrow and the crowd went down to the field where the soccer team engulfed Derrick in a big group hug.

Massie, pulling an ecstatic Kristen who was pulling Claire who was pulling Alicia who was pulling Dylan, pushed past the crowd to congratulate her friends on their victory. As soon as they got near, their chain broke and the girls went to different guys. Kristen to Kemp, Dylan to Cam, Claire to Plovert, Alicia to Josh. Massie went to Derrick. It's only right.

"So, congratulations," Massie smiled.

"You came?" he asked with a cocky grin. "I knew you couldn't resist me."

"I went because Kristen asked me to!"

"Right," he said, stretching the word to make it seem like he didn't believe her.

Massie was about to retort but Kemp beat her to it. "Victory party at my place!" he announced and everyone who heard cheered.

"You going?" Derrick asked.

"I don't know." She shrugged.

"Aw, come on! You have to go! We won!"

"Yeah, Massie you have to go! You're Derrick's date!" Alicia butted in. Alicia was the person who teased them about the whole marriage thing the most. Massie's cheeks turned pink. "Shut up, Alicia!"

"Uhh," Derrick said awkwardly.

"I was planning to go anyway. I was just kidding when I said I didn't know whether I should go or not. I don't have to be your date," Massie said.

"Okay."

"Do you have a date?" Massie asked suspiciously.

"Nope."

"Good, because even if this was an accident, I don't like cheating," she said.

"Y'know, that's kinda sad. I'm the team captain and I don't have a date."

"There is nothing wrong with not having a date."

"What? Massie's not your date? She has to be!" Alicia butted in _again._

"Why do you keep butting in?" Massie asked.

"To make this thing work! People, cooperate with me! This "marriage" will never work if you don't cooperate with me!" she said, mouthing the word 'marriage.'

"Okay?" Derrick asked, wondering what was wrong with the Spanish girl.

"Yes! And to make this work, Massie has to be your date!"

"Uh, sure?" he said.

"Thank you!" she said before leaving.

"There is something wrong with Alicia."

"She drank too much Coke. She usually doesn't drink Coke much."

"Oh. Weird. I love Coke."

~O~

"We won! Celebration time!" Kemp said, already tipsy.

Massie watched the dancefloor where her schoolmates were dancing, most of them holding cups of the spiked punch. Trust Kemp to put alcohol in every drink during a party.

"Hey, Block," Derrick said, walking towards her.

"Where are the others?"

"Well, Claire and Plovert just hooked up and they're there, making out. It's really awkward watching people make out in front of you."

"Really?" Massie asked, happy for her friend. Claire has liked him for the longest time.

"Yeah. Look, there she is now. I'm gonna go get cookies so that she can squeal at you in peace," he said, grinning.

"Give me some!"

"Go get yourself!"

"MASSIE!" Claire squealed in her ear. Damn. That girl can turn anyone deaf.

"Did you hear?!" she asked eagerly.

"Yeah. Derrick just told me."

She gave a little scream. "It's so great!" She said with a big grin plastered on her face. Massie noticed that her lipgloss was smudged all over her face.

"Uh, Claire, you have lipgloss all over your face," she said.

"Oh gosh, really?"

"Yeah."

"I have to go to the bathroom!"

"You want me to go with you?"

"I'm fine!" she said before walking away, the big smile still on her face.

"I heard her scream your name from the snack table," Derrick said, handing her a small plate of cookies.

"You got me cookies!"

"Yeah, well, Claire's great and all, but she hurts my ears when she's excited."

"Mhmm," she said before biting her cookie. It was delicious. There was something there that made the taste different. After a few seconds, she felt her tongue starting to itch.

"What is this?" she managed to asked.

"Kemp said it was a chocolate cookie with crushed peanuts in them," he asked, getting a bit worried with her expression.

"I'm allergic to peanuts!" she said before she felt her airways start to constrict.

"Oh shit," he said as he watched her try to breathe. He was frozen for a second before the adrenaline kicked in and he swept her up and carried her towards his car, ignoring the partygoers' stares and their friends' worried questions. He sped towards the Westchester Hospital, stepping on the accelerator a little bit harder everytime he saw her struggle with her breathing. He stepped on it a little bit more. If anything bad happened to her, it would be his fault.

A car honked behind him and he looked in the rearview mirror and saw that it was Cam's car. He honked back and sped up a little bit more.

Finally, they arrived at the hospital and he hurriedly grabbed Massie and took her in through the emergency door. Cam and the others crowded around them.

"Emergency!" Kristen called out and immediately, nurses came with a stretcher. Derrick placed the heaving Massie on it.

"What happened?" a doctor asked.

"She's allergic to nuts and she just ate a nut filled cookie!" he explained.

"Constricted airways," the doctor said as the nurses took her away. "Please, stay here and we will call you when it's fine to see her," she said before rushing away.

"You idiot!" Kristen said, smacking his arm. "Why the hell did you give her a peanut filled cookie?!"

"I didn't know she was allergic!"

"And you!" she turned to Kemp. "Why do you have peanut filled cookies!"

"I love them!"

She turned back to Derrick. "She could have _died."_

His caramel puppy dog eyes grew bigger. "What?"

"Yeah! She could have died, and all because you gave her a cookie!"

"Damn."

"The only reason _you're _still alive is because you're a damn fast driver."

**So, how was that? Was that too fast? I liked it. I didn't think it was that fast since they don't exactly **_**feel **_**anything yet, but still…was that too fast?**

**Oh yeah, I have something to ask my dearly beloved readers.**

**Let's play "Choose their destiny." You have to pick which sounds better. The choices lead to different events.**

**How would you feel if I brought the press into their lives? Like, their parents are uber rich and important and famous and the press found out about their marriage and showcased it to the world. There'll be a new character when this choice wins.**

**They stay regular. No press in their lives, but I think the story plot for both are equally nice, that's why I'm asking.**

**And, I haven't read BRU yet. I want to. Can anyone explain what happens? Short enough to fit a review but detailed enough for me to understand? Thanks.**

**REVIEW.**


	6. Baby, You'll Be Famous

**So…**

***awkward silence***

**I'M SORRY!**

**I really truly am sorry to everyone. You're all waiting for an update and here I am, disappointing you all. It's jut that school is stressing me out and taking up all my time. But don't worry, I think teachers are just excited to get students stressed out. They all lessen the load given to us a few months after school starts. Maybe in the middle of August updates'll be faster.**

**Thankyouthankyouthankyou to everyone who still stuck with this story even if I'm a crappy updater. I love you all.**

**Anywhoo, since I don't like author's notes that are disguised as chapters, the actual chapter is down there…**

**ENJOY**

**Oh yeah, this happens one week after Massie gets out of the hospital because hospitals are no fun :|**

**.:Baby, You'll Be Famous:.**

"Derrick, we have to go grocery shopping!" Massie Block (Harrington) yelled as she popped her head in Derrick Harrington's room. His eyes were closed, but he was obviously awake. "I know you're awake."

He was silent, but a corner of his mouth twitched.

"Fine. I'm gonna go grocery shopping myself. Food for Massie and for Massie only. None for Derrick," she said, closing the door. She waited outside for what would obviously come next.

As expected, he jerked his door open.

"You're not buying food for me?" he asked.

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. she slowly walked away, feeling accomplished with a small smug smile on her lips.

"Fine. I'm gonna go get ready," he mumbled

~O~

"What are those?" Massie asked as Derrick dropped 17 bags of chips on their cart.

"Chips," he said, his voice oozing 'duh'.

"I know that, what I meant was why are there so many?"

"Cause I want."

"No, we are not buying seventeen bags of chips," she said while putting them back on the rack while counting them.

"Yes, we are," he argued while he grabbed the chips and put them back on the cart one-by-one.

"No, we are not," she said while she put the chips on the rack.

"Yes, we are," he said while he put the chips on the cart.

She grabbed the bag of chips from his hand. "No."

He grabbed the bag back. "Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Excuse me, is there a problem here?" an employee asked.

"No," Massie said.

"Yes," Derrick said.

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"How about we work this out peacefully?" the employee asked.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"How about you only get half the number of chips?"

They both turned to the guy. "Fine," they said simultaneously.

"Eight bags," Massie said.

"Fine," Derrick replied.

"Thank you," she said to the employee.

~O~

"Vanilla."

"Chocolate."

"Vanilla."

"Chocolate."

"Va—," Massie started to say, but she was cut off by a hand colliding with her cheek. She looked up to see an amused and chuckling Derrick and a crying Nikki Dalton.

"I can't believe you!" she said before storming away.

"What the hell was that?!" she asked incredulously.

"Do you know Nikki? Yeah, she's un love with me. She slapped Olivia too," he guffawed.

"In love with you?"

"Yeah. She's, like, the president of my fan club."

"Fan club?"

"Yup. You know what, for that slap, we're getting the vanilla ice cream," he smiled.

She scoffed. "Whatever."

A group of old women passed by them and made disapproving sounds.

"What was that about?" Derrick asked.

Massie just shrugged. "I don't know."

They went to the cashier and got ready to pay. During the whole process, the girl working the cashier kept stealing glances at the pair.

After paying, Massie looked back at the cashier and the girl _glared_ at her.

"The girl at the cashier just glared at me!"

"I think I know why," Derrick said, pointing somewhere. Massie followed his arm and it led her to a newsstand.

The first thing she noticed was hers and Derrick's face. The next is the horrible headline of a magazine. "Young daughter and son of two powerful couples married!"

She hurried over to the newsstand to grab the magazine and flipped to one page.

"_Massie Block, the daughter of William Block, CEO and founder of the Block Enterprises, and Kendra Block, actress and one of the top supermodels of today, is married to Derrick Harrington, son of Robert Harrington, president of Harrington Group Of Companies, and Pauline Harrington, Academy Award winning actress. Block, 16, and Harrington, 17, both go to Briarwood-Octavian Country Day High…blah…blah…blah,"_ Massie read out loud, scanning the page. _"Could this be an arranged marriage for the Block Enterprises and the Harrington Group Of Companies?"_

"That last sentence sounds bad," Derrick said.

"Are you kidding me? The _whole _article is bad!" Massie remarked.

~O~

"What do we do?" Kendra Block asked William Block. Pauline Harrington looked to Robert Harrington for an answer to the same question while Massie and Derrick just looked on, sitting quietly and politely on the couch, knowing that they were the cause of the problem.

"Well, there's only one thing to do," William said, looking at Massie and Derrick. The parents caught on and looked at them too.

Massie knew what they were thinking. They would ask her and Derrick to pretend like they were madly in love with each other that they couldn't wait to be married. She doesn't want to do it and pretend, but…she will. Since it was their fault anyway…she will.

"Are you sure?" Robert Harrington asked.

"It's the only solution I can think of. A divorce would just cause more talk and it would send the paparazzi into a frenzy. They'll start following Massie and Derrick everywhere," he explained.

"What are you guys talking about?" Derrick asked.

"They want us to pretend we're so madly in love with each other that we couldn't wait to be married," Massie told him.

"What? No! I won't do it!" Derrick exclaimed.

They all looked at Massie.

"I'll do it," she said.

"Why?!" Derrick asked.

"This is our fault anyway."

Derrick was silent for a minute, thinking. Well, he has nothing to lose.

Except maybe the freedom to flirt with girls.

But this whole thing was their fault.

"Fine. I'll do it."

**Okay, I'm so sorry if that sucked. I feel sucky. I failed a Social Studies test. Social Studies is my best subject :(**

**Review?**


	7. Just To Say You're In Love

**The crappy updater is back! And sorry for not updating. I was reading Maximum Ride…and Teen Idol…and Stardust…and Brothers Grimm…and I was being lazy…**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own One Tree Hill.**

**PS. Some of you may see that the title has no connection with the chapter…it was just the song playing while I finished this chapter. It's Throwing Punches by the awesomeness that is Paramore.**

**.:Just To Say You're In Love:.**

Whispers echoed around the halls as Massie Block(Harrington) and Derrick Harrington entered Briarwood-Octavian Country Day High. Kristen Gregory rushed up to them with Kemp Hurley, Dylan Marvil, and Cam Fisher on her heels.

"So…this is bad?" Dylan asked.

"Yup," Massie said, popping the 'p.'

"Hey, it's not that bad! I mean, look at the bright side! You don't need to stress about finding a date for prom! Or spring fling! Or whatever dance there is!" Kristen said, trying to cheer them up but failing miserably.

"I'm not even sure if I was going to take Massie," Derrick said.

"Me too," Massie agreed.

"Dude, do you really think anyone would say yes to you? And Mass, do you really think someone would still ask you?" Kemp said, the voice of reason.

Kristen smacked his arm. "You're not helping!"

"So, what are you going to do?" Cam asked.

"Well, now we have to pretend that we're madly in love with each other."

"What?!" Cam half-yelled, and everybody looked at them. "What?!" he repeated, but now it was more of a whisper.

"But you dislike each other!" Kristen whispered.

"You're not helping either," Kemp pointed out.

"Just pray to God that we inherited our mothers' acting skills," Massie said and wrapped her arm around Derrick's waist as Carrie Randolph approached them, a big grin to complete her preppy personality.

"Ehmagawd! Is it true?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah," Derrick said, putting his arm on Massie's shoulders.

"Ehmagawd! That is so sweet! Just like Nate and Haley on One Tree Hill! Ehmagawd! Are you going to have a baby soon? Like them? If you are, can I name it? Ooh! Can I be a godmother? Ehmagawd! Massie, are you pregnant? Is that why you got married? My parents are totally against that, but I think it's sweet! Can I be godmother? If it's a girl, can I name it Jillian? If it's a boy, can I name it James? Ehmagawd. Just like in One Tree Hill! Jamie! That baby is so cute! But it looks too much like Chad Michael Murray. Ehmagawd! Look at the time! I'm late for cheerleading practice! Bye!" she said, not even stopping to catch her breath. Kristen, Kemp, Cam and Dylan covered their mouths to contain their laughter at Massie and Derrick's horrified expressions.

"Uh…that was new," Derrick said.

Massie's face was still frozen in horror.

"Block?" Derrick asked.

"What if…what if everyone thinks I got knocked up?"

-*-*-*-

"Dude, did you get Massie Block knocked up?" Dempsey Solomon asked Derrick as he made his way to homeroom.

"No!"

"Then why the hell did you marry her?"

"Love?"

"Whatever, dude. I'd like to do her."

Derrick glared at him. Dempsey Solomon has always been an asshole.

"Sorry, Harrington. Just speaking my mind. I mean, it's not like you haven't done her," he said, grinning suggestively.

"Whatever, Solomon. Stay away from Massie, okay?"

-*-*-*-

"Hey, Massie, tell me the truth," Strawberry McAdams said from behind Massie.

"What?"

"Are you pregnant?"

"What?! NO!"

"Then why are you married to Harrington?"

"Love?"

"Would Derrick Harrington and Massie…um, Block please report to the Principal's office now." Principal Burns said over the intercom.

Massie gathered her stuff and walked out of the room with everybody staring at her and whispering.

When she arrived in the office, Derrick wasn't there yet.

"Sit down Ms…Block? Or is it Harrington now?" Principal Burns asked.

"Um, anything you want," Massie said just as the door opened and Derrick stepped in and plopped down on the chair beside Massie.

"Morning, Mel," Derrick said casually.

"Good morning, Derrick. I've read about your predicament and I've heard the rumors circulating around school. Would you care to enlighten me?"

"You see, Mel, yes, we are together, but no, I did not get Block pregnant," he said bluntly, and Principal Burns was quite taken aback by his frankness.

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you together? I remember last year when the two of you were sent to my office for incessant quarreling during Mr. Myner's geography class."

Massie opened her mouth to speak, but Derrick shot her a look. She pressed her Glossip Girl covered lips together.

"It all started this summer," he said, a dreamy look coming over his caramel eyes. Massie had to hand it to him. He was good.

"Massie and I finally had a normal conversation. I realized she wasn't that bad. I asked her out. We fell in love. I realized she was the one for me, and we got married. Now isn't that a beautiful story?"

"Massie, is he telling the truth?"

"Of course, Principal Burns," Massie said, putting as much feeling as she can.

"Very well. You may go," she said and the two of them left.

"Ha. I swore I heard her muttering 'impulsive little children' when we went out," Massie said, snickering.

"Me too. If anyone asks, that's the story okay?" he said, before leaning down to kiss Massie's cheek. He put his mouth close to her ear and whispered, "Allie-Rose Singer is looking at us from behind the lockers."

Massie looked at the lockers from her peripheral vision while slinking her arms around Derrick's neck. Sure enough, Allie-Rose was there, peeking at them.

"You're good," she whispered, then she placed her lips on his for three seconds before bringing them back near his ear. "But I'm better."

-*-*-*-

"Kissing in the hallway?" Claire Lyons asked as she sat down on their table.

"Huh. Guess Allie-Rose told everybody about the little show we gave her. Where's Alicia?" Massie asked.

"Announcements," Claire answered.

"Hey, do you know how many people have asked me whether you got Massie pregnant?" Plovert asked Derrick.

Derrick shrugged.

"_A lot, _dude. A lot."

Massie rolled her eyes.

Ten minutes later, Alicia Rivera sat down across from Massie.

"I swear, there's something wrong with the people in this school," she said. "There're so many people asking about you two, especially whether Massie got knocked up."

Massie rolled her eyes again.

Then an idea popped in her head.

"Watch this," she said before creating a space in the middle of the table. She began climbing up.

"Massie!" her friends spontaneously shouted.

"Derrick, be useful and hold my ankles. I might fall," she said and she felt Derrick's strong hands grab her ankles.

"People! I have an announcement!" she yelled over the whispers of the students. "I am not pregnant! That's not the reason Derrick and I are together! The thing you read in magazines? That's not the reason either! Get it? Got that? Good! Now that I've cleared things up, stop asking me or my friends that stupid question, thankyouverymuch."

She climbed back down as students started whispering again. She looked at the shocked faces of her friends and Derrick was smirking.

"What?" she asked.

"Didn't know you had it in you to do something like that," he said.

"You know what? Maybe I should do my lunch announcements like that," Alicia mused and everybody cracked up.

**So sorry if that was too short and it sucked…I'm kind of out of it right now.**


	8. LOVE Is Just Another Word

**I'M !!!**

**Okay, so I bought a new laptop…now I'm putting it to good use :)**

**I won't bother you with long apologies, but I will say SORRY.**

**Yes, I'm a crappy updater.**

**Oh well.**

**ENJOY!**

**.:L-O-V-E Is Just Another Word I Never Learned To Pronounce:.**

Massie Block (Harrington) woke up to the sound of music. She stretched, arching her back and lifting her hands above her head. She got up off the bed and opened her door. She can hear the words clearly now. It was Baby Blue Eyes by A Rocket To The Moon.

**She's a doll, a catch, a winner****  
****I'm in love and no beginner;****  
****Could never grasp or understand just what she means.**

She went down the stairs and found Derrick Harrington with his guitar, playing along with the song, his mouth forming the words.

"Morning," she greeted.

He just nodded, concentrating.

**I drive her home when she can't stand,****  
****I like to think I'm a better man****  
****For not lettin' her do what she's been known to do.****  
****She wears heels and she always falls,****  
****Don't let her think she's a know-it-all.****  
**

She sat on a stool on the kitchen island, a place where she can still see him. She poured herself some cereal and just watched him.

**Baby, baby blue eyes,****  
****Stay with me by my side;****  
****'Til the mornin', through the night (can't get you out of my mind)****  
****Well baby,****  
****Stand here, holdin' my sides,****  
****Close your baby blue eyes;****  
****Every moment feels right.****  
****And I may feel like a fool,****  
****But I'm the only one, dancin' with you.****  
****Oh...**  
**Can't get you out of mind.**

Massie silently sang along, not wanting to disturb him.

Dare she say it?

He looked cute.

(Actually, she was thinking sexy, but she won't admit it to herself.)

He was singing along, his blonde hair falling in front of his caramel eyes as he strummed his guitar.

**Every moment feels right.****  
****And I may feel like a fool,****  
****But I'm the only one, dancin' with those**

He almost looked like…

…like someone Massie could fall in love with.

She's always had a thing for musicians.

_Holy, I can't believe I just thought of that, _she thought.

**Baby, baby blue eyes,****  
****Stay with me by my side;****  
****'Til the mornin', through the night. (can't get you out of my mind)****  
****Baby, stand here, holdin' my sides,****  
****while closing your eyes****  
****Every moment feels right (every moment feels right)******

**My eyes are no good- blind without her,****  
****The way she moves, I never doubt her.****  
****When she talks, she somehow creeps into my dreams.**

The song ended, and he looked at her.

Massie loved her amber eyes.

But in the second that his eyes met hers…

She has never wanted baby blue eyes more.

**[OMG! THEY HAD A MOMENT! I'm sorry, I just couldn't fight the urge to type this…]**

"We have to come up with some sort of fundraiser for all the projects the student council is holding," Massie announced during student council meeting. "The school only gives us a limited amount of money, and it's not enough for all the activities we have planned this year."

"Ooh! How about we bake cookies?" the student council treasurer, Danny Robbins, suggested.

"We have a bake sale every year, Danny. We're still doing that this year, but we also need more," Kristen Gregory said.

"Let me get this straight. We have to raise money, so that we can hold a school fair/carnival? And the fair/carnival is also somehow a fundraiser right?" Skye Hamilton, student council secretary, said.

"Trust me, Skye, we have to pay _a lot _of people," Danny said.

"Okay, so how about a concert? We can even get the theater club to help us," Skye suggested. "And I bet they'll do it for free."

"I approve of a concert," Principal Burns said. "But some of you have to volunteer."

"Trust me, I don't have any musical talent whatsoever," Danny said.

"I can't squeeze in concert practices in my schedule. I have a big ballet recital coming up," Skye said.

"I'll do it," Massie said, then she nudged Kristen.

"Fine. I'll be stage manager or something."

"Great!" Principal Burns said.

.:o:.

[the next day…]

"Hi, Massie! Hi, Kristen!" Saylene Homer, the overly preppy theater club member, greeted when the two of them arrived at the school theater.

"I'm volunteering as stage manager," Kristen said, getting to the point. Yes, Kristen can win soccer games in front of thousands of people, and she can give heart-wrenching speeches in front of a crowd, but she gets the _worst _stage fright when it comes to performing.

"Oh! Great! We needed a stage manager since Dempsey quit," Saylene said. "Let's go backstage."

When they got backstage, they found about seven volunteers just lounging around, two were tuning their violins, one was practicing the saxophone, one was rapping badly, and two were just sitting there, drawing on a piece of paper. The drama club was also there, along with Ms. Park, the theater club moderator.

"Is this everybody?" Massie asked.

"Nope," Tyler Smit said. "I invited five more guys."

"Okay, so can you distribute these papers and make sure everyone signs one while I get their names and signatures?" Massie asked, handing Tyler a stack of papers.

Two minutes after Tyler distributed the papers, five boys came barging into the room.

"What are you doing here?" a dirty blonde and a brunette said simultaneously.

"Kristen!" Kemp Hurley said.

"Is this everybody?" Josh Hotz asked.

"I've never been backstage," Cam Fisher said.

"Cool! A saxophone!" Chris Plovert explained.

"I'm senior class president," Massie said, defensively. "I'm volunteering."

"Well, me too," Derrick said.

"Glad you guys can come!" Tyler said.

A few minutes later, everybody signed the contracts saying they will stick to their word and not quit in the middle of the production. Now, they were introducing themselves and demonstrating their talents.

"I can rap!" one boy said. The bad rapper.

"How about you take care of the lights?" Ms. Park said after his demonstration. "We really need someone to man that, see, there are only seven permanent theater club members, and only three of them can join the concert."

"Fine," the boy said dejectedly.

"I can play the saxophone," a boy said. Then he started playing, and those two people that were just drawing on a piece of paper a while ago, stood up and got a guitar and a beat box. The girl started playing the guitar, and the guy started tapping the beat box. They started playing blues. With a little bit of jazz.

"We need a piano here!" Ms. Park said, sounding hopeful. Saylene stood up and ran to the piano and started playing. It sounded even better. It looked like a scene right out of a musical movie.

"Okay! First act!" Ms. Park announced after their performance ended.

"Blues are the best," Derrick said.

"You listen to the blues?" Massie asked.

"Sometimes, when I feel like it."

That answer surprised her.

"Next please," Ms. Park said, motioning to the two female violin players.

One girl started playing a classical song, and the other played the same song, only, in a different arrangement. They played for two minutes until the song changed to something Massie recognized. Untouched, by the Veronicas. She was going to sing, but decided against it.

"Good! Second act!" Ms. Park said, looking very happy that this was turning out well.

"Boys? I'm assuming you're a band?"

"Yes. You are looking at the brand new band(formed only 2 hours ago), 1771!" Josh Hotz said, pulling out four playing cards. 1,7,7,1.

"Where'd you get 1771?" Kristen asked.

"Um, you see, each letter corresponds to one number, like A is equal to one, B is equal to two. We got the numerical equivalent of our initials, then added them up. The sum was 77. Then we multiplied it by 23, and the result was 1771," Plovert, the smartest out of all of them, explained.

"Where'd you get 23?" Massie asked, curious.

"From our initials. We each got the sum of our initials, and if we got a double digit, we added the two digits up until we were left with only one number. Then we added those. We got 23," Plovert explained.

"I can't believe you used Math to get a band name," the beat box boy said.

"Me too," Derrick added.

"So, what are you boys going to sing?" Ms. Park said, changing the topic.

"Use Somebody. The Kings Of Leon version," Cam said.

"Ooh! I heard another version of that song! Massie, darling, can you sing this song too? With Mr. Harrington?" Ms. Park asked. [haha, she heard the paramore version :)]

"Why?" Massie asked.

"Please? I just think it'll be good to have boy-girl vocals here," Ms. Park said.

"If he's up for it," Massie said, motioning to Derrick.

"I'm fine with it," he said, and Massie walked towards him.

"So, how do we do this?"

"How about, I go first until first chorus, with you singing backup, then you sing the rest, with me singing back-up?"

"Good enough."

**Oh, woah, oh, woah, oh  
oh, woah, oh, woah, oh, oh  
oh, woah, oh, woah, oh  
oh, woah, oh, woah, oh**

**I've been roaming around,  
always looking down at all I see  
Painted faces fill the places I can't reach  
You know that I can use somebody**

**Well, you know that I can use somebody**  
_**Someone like you and all you know and how you speak**_  
_countless lovers under covers of the street_  
_**  
Well, you know that I can use somebody  
Well, you know that I can use somebody  
Someone like you**_

_oh, woah, oh, woah, oh, oh  
oh, woah, oh, woah, oh  
oh, woah, oh, woah, oh_

_off in the night while you live it up I'm off to sleep  
waging wars to shake the poet and the beat  
well I hope it's gonna make you notice  
well I hope it's gonna make you notice  
someone like me  
someone like me  
someone like me  
somebody_

**I'm ready  
I'm ready**

_I'm ready  
I'm ready_

_**oh, woah, oh, woah, oh  
someone like you  
somebody  
someone like you  
somebody  
someone like you  
somebody  
**_  
**I've been roaming around, **  
_always looking down at all I see  
_

"You guys are the final act. I'm gonna need six songs," said Ms, Park

.:o:.  
[two weeks later]

"Tonight is the night we've practiced for! Are we ready?!" Ms. Park said enthusiastically.

"NO!" they all chorused.

"Guys…"

"Yes!"

"Are we going to make this night awesome?!"

"YES!"

"OKAY! Jazz blues! Get READY! You're on in one minute!"

.:o:.

_Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out…_

Massie took deep yoga breaths to calm down her nerves.

"What are you doing?" Derrick asked.

Massie popped open her eyes and saw him leaning on the doorframe.

"Relaxing," she said calmly.

"We're on in one minute."

"WHAT?!"

"Whoa. What happened to 'relaxing?'"

.:o:.

"And now we have a BRAND new band(formed only 2 weeks ago), 9229!" Ms. Park said, and the curtain started to rise up, and the people started to cheer. Thanks to the dark theater and the spotlight on the stage, Massie couldn't really see the people, just their outlines. That helped. But then, the theater was _packed,_ and they were all expecting a show worthy of their fame (or infamy). _Everyone _heard about Massie Block and Derrick Harrington being in a band together.

The music started, and they started singing. The first song they sang was Use Somebody, followed by Need You Now by Lady Antebellum.

_**It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now**__  
__**Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now  
And I don't know how I can do without  
I just need you now**_

For that song, the two of them only stayed on their place, not moving very much, being mellow. The next song would be Massie's song, and it was All I Wanted by Paramore.

_I think I'll pace my apartment a few times  
And fall asleep on the couch  
and wake up early to black and white re-runs  
that escaped from my mouth_

_All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you_

_I could follow you to the beginning  
and just relive the start  
and maybe then we'll remember to slow down  
all of our favorite parts_

_All I wanted was you_

_All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you  
All I wanted was you_

Derrick watched Massie move across the stage while he played the guitar. He never knew she was _that _graceful. Every step and movement she made was fluid, like water. Plus, she had her voice. Yes, he did say once that her voice was bad, but that was just…a joke. He had always agreed that she arguably had the best singing voice in the whole high school. But still, Derrick never knew that she was _that _good. It felt good to know.

Massie was aware of all the eyes watching her, what she didn't know was that a pair of caramel eyes were following her every step, analyzing her every move, and admiring her every way.

The next song was another duet, Love Song by Anberlin.

**However far away,  
**_**I will always love you.**_  
_however long I stay'_  
_**I will always love you.**_  
_**Whatever words I say,**_  
_I will always love you,_**  
I will always love you.**

Despite everything, at the back of their minds—in their subconscious—,they suddenly wished those words they were singing were actually true.

**All I wanted to say  
All I wanted to do  
is fall apart now  
all I wanted to feel  
I wanted to love  
it's all my fault now  
a tragedy I fear**

**Angel of mercy,  
how did you find me?  
how did you pick me up again?  
angel of mercy  
how did you move me?  
why am I on my feet again?  
and I see you  
I feel you**

Derrick's different when he's up onstage. He's concentrated, he's engrossed, he's…someone else, but he's still the same Derrick. It seems like he grew up, he becomes more mature onstage. He's passionate and devoted, he's exciting and fascinating. He can make you fall in love.

Massie felt like being his music.

_HOLY SHIT, WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THE WORLD?! WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?!_

Their second to the last song was Whoa Oh! By Forever The Sickest Kids featuring Selena Gomez.

Now that their energy was at its highest, the adrenaline made them go almost all out on this song, both moving freely, Massie's self-esteem at its highest and Derrick's guitar gone.

They started out with Massie's arms crossed, her back to Derrick.****

[this time, they sang facing each other]_**  
Whoa oh whoa whoa oh**__**  
**__**Why do I put myself in these situations**__**  
**__**Whoa oh whoa whoa oh**__**  
**__**I keep pushing myself even though I can't take it at all**__**  
**_**  
****Girl,**_(yeah?) _**who taught you how to move like that? **_(you did)_**  
****At this pace your at you're going way to fast.**_(ha)_**  
****I, I saw you from across the room****  
****It's me versus every guy it's your choice you choose.****  
**_  
__I've got friends in highly low places_**  
****It's been a long time, it's been a long time****  
**_and maybe baby you can rise above the rest and meet me yeah_****

_**Whoa oh whoa whoa oh**__**  
**__**Why do I put myself in these situations**__**  
**__**Whoa oh whoa whoa oh**__**  
**__**I keep pushing myself even though I can't take it at all**_****

_**Whoa oh whoa whoa oh**__**  
**__**Why do I put myself in these situations**__**  
**__**Whoa oh whoa whoa oh**__**  
**__**I keep pushing myself even though I can't take it at all**_**  
**_**  
**_[now, they sang with their face only inches apart, Massie's hand on Derrick's shoulder, his on her waist]_**  
You're worth losing my self esteem**__**  
**__**Your clever words mean nothing more to me than a lot I've heard in a movie**__**  
**__**you're worth losing my, losing my, losing my self esteem  
**_[Derrick pushed Massie away]_**  
**_**you're not worth **_**putting myself in these situations**_****

_**Whoa oh whoa whoa oh**_**  
**_**Why do I put myself in these situations**__**  
**__**Whoa oh whoa whoa oh**__**  
**__**I keep pushing myself even though I can't take it at all**_

**{okay, so they were dancing the whole song, okay? Not just the parts I wrote}**

The song ended, and they realized they've never actually been as intimate as that. Dancing beside each other? Never happened.

Massie knew Derrick lost control sometimes, but she never knew he was like that. Yes, he has anger issues sometimes, but really, she was scared of what he was going to do onstage. She never knew he so _in control _when he _lost control_…

Derrick has never seen Massie lose control like that. Right on the spot, he decided that he liked it.

"BOCD! THIS IS OUR LAST SONG, AND WE HOPE YOU SING ALONG, AND DANCE ALONG! THANK YOU!" they shouted into the microphone together, like how they practiced yesterday.

_**Let's burn our dreams into the skyline**__**  
**__**tattoo our sweat in tears**__**  
**__**forever you and I**__**  
**__**hold your breath till we cross the sundown**__**  
**__**this is the moment**__**  
**__**time is racing slow it down**__****_

_**cause you, a feeling I can't deny**__****_

_**we are only here for one more night**__**  
**__**so scream it like you mean it**__**  
**__**one more time**__**  
**__**we'll tear down the building**__**  
**__**come on come on**__**  
**__**sing along whoa**__**  
**__**come on come on**__**  
**__**stay young**__****_

_**let's light the kerosene tonight**__**  
**__**spark up like fireworks**__**  
**__**exploding in the sky**__**  
**__**kick down the new year and the future**__**  
**__**we can't get closer here**__**  
**__**the walls are falling down**__****_

_**cause you, a feeling I can't deny**__****_

_**we are only here for one more night**__**  
**__**so scream it like you mean it**__**  
**__**one more time**__**  
**__**we'll tear down the building**__**  
**__**come on come on**__**  
**__**sing along whoa**__**  
**__**come on come on**__**  
**__**stay young**__**  
**__**we'll be holding on to this so tight**__**  
**__**scream it like you mean it**____**  
**__**one more time**__**  
**__**we'll tear down the building**__**  
**__**come on come on**____**  
**__**sing along whoa**__**  
**__**come on come on**__**  
**__**stay young**__****_

_**feel my breath I'm alive**__**  
**__**when we're side by side now**__**  
**__**Now, this is dedicated to you**__****_

_**come on come on**____**  
**__**sing along whoa**__**  
**__**come on come on**__**  
**__**sing along**__**  
**__**come on come on**____**  
**__**sing along whoa**__**  
**__**come on come on**__****_

_**we are only here for one more night**__**  
**__**so scream it like you mean it**__**  
**__**one more time**__**  
**__**we'll tear down the building**__**  
**__**come on come on**__**  
**__**sing along whoa**__**  
**__**come on come on**__**  
**__**stay young**__**  
**__**we'll be holding on to this so tight**__**  
**__**scream it like you mean it**____**  
**__**one more time**__**  
**__**we'll tear down the building**__**  
**__**come on come on**____**  
**__**sing along whoa**__**  
**__**come on come on**__**  
**__**stay young**_

When they finished the song, they found themselves facing each other, their eyes bright from energy, their body high on adrenaline, and their hearts pumped with electricity.

Their eyes met for a split second, and they felt like breaking out into another song.

A love song.

.:o:.

Later that night (or early the next morning), they arrived home tired and drained, ready to fall asleep until the sunset.

"This was a great night," Massie said.

"Yes, it was. It was wasn't it?" Derrick asked.

"Yes," Massie said. They weren't drunk, just a little tipsy, but it felt like they were because they were crazy exhausted.

"Let's get some sleep," Massie said.

"I'm tired as hell," Derrick said, walking in front of Massie.

In a moment of spontaneity, Massie twirled and lost her footing, but before she lost her balance, Derrick grabbed her and twirled her again. She hit the wall and due to the force of her hitting the wall, Derrick was pushed in front of her. All exhaustion was forgotten as their bodies were pressed together, not even a little space in between them. Derrick's hands were on her waist, her hands on his elbows.

They were too close.

Dangerously, terrifyingly, amazingly close.

They were frozen on the spot, neither one knowing what to do to ease the tension, the simple thought of just _moving _lost. Neither of them could think, how could they move? They just looked into each other's eyes, stunned. They couldn't even tell what emotions were flashing in the other's eyes. They just stood there, immobile in their accidental embrace.

Amber held on to caramel.

Caramel bore into amber.

Seconds, minutes, hours passed. They weren't really sure. All they knew was that their bodies were pressed together, and they were paralyzed into each other's arms.

They were shaken out of their trance by the ringing of their doorbell. Now, they were alert, but no one knew what to do.

Derrick made the first move. He dropped his hands from her waist and stepped back.

"Sorry," he mumbled before heading for the door. Massie stayed there for a second and shook her head before following him to see who their visitor was.

It was a boy with long black hair and sea-green eyes.

"Landon!" Derrick greeted and gave him a man-hug.

"Hey, there, Derrick. Great show, by the way," he said, smiling, perfect white teeth showing. He turned to Massie. "Hi, you must be Massie. I'm Landon Crane, and I'm Derrick's cousin."

**Okay, this chapter was COMPLETELY different from what I imagined. There shouldn't have been a concert…cause, for some reason, I'm finding concerts so cliché…but…whatever. I was bored. Now I'm lazy, so I won't be changing anything :)**

**Not even that cliffhanger.**

**SONGS: Baby Blue Eyes – A Rocket To The Moon…Use Somebody – Paramore/Kings of Leon…Need You Now – Lady Antebellum…All I Wanted – Paramore…Love Song – Anberlin…Mercy – One Republic…Whoa Oh! – Forever The Sickest Kids feat. Selena Gomez…Stay Young – We The Kings…sorry if som of the lyrics are wrong ;)**

**If anyone can guess why the band's name is 9229, I'll give you a special gift.**

**You get a one-shot! You choose the pairing, and the other stuff…yeah…and you also get one filler! You tell me one thing you want to happen in Waking Up In Vegas (nothing that will alter the plot, though), and I will incorporate it into the story!**

**And yes, the way I got 9229 is ALMOST the exact same way I got 1771.**

**I DON'T OWN ANYTHING.**

**I think this may be the most clichéd chapter in this whole story.**


	9. I've Got My Own Secrets Though

**.:I've Got My Own Secrets Though, Say What?:.**

"Die, Sith, die!" Massie Block(Harrington) heard Landon Crane's voice echoing from their living room. Landon Crane, Derrick Harrington's cousin. He came to their house five days ago, looking for Derrick. He said that he was moving to New York, moving to Briarwood-Octavian Country Day.

Landon was awesome, _way _kinder than Derrick was. He was probably one of the kindest and sweetest boys—except maybe for Cam—that Massie has ever met. She still can't believe they're related.

"No!" she heard Derrick shout. When she got down, she found Derrick and Landon locked in an intense lightsaber duel, Derrick holding a red lightsaber and Landon a blue one.

So Derrick was a Sith, and Landon was a Jedi.

Massie shook her head. When those two boys get together, it's like they turn into kids again.

Very immature.

She dramatically walked across the room to a blank portion of the wall, as Landon lost to Derrick, and sighed, posting up the calendar she brought with her on the wall.

"YES! YOU LOSE AGAIN!" Derrick yelled, raising his hands up.

"Rematch!" Landon demanded.

"Bring it on, Jedi," Derrick said, holding up his lightsaber again, even if he was already panting and sweaty.

"No, dude, I'm tired. Plus, we have school," Landon said, getting up. "Hey, Massie."

"Hello, Landon," Massie said, making a show of straightening the calendar.

"What's that?" Derrick asked.

"A calendar. Duh," Massie said, facing Derrick.

"Massie, that's our fourth calendar in the living room. I don't think we need more than three," Derrick said, looking at the various calendars on the living room walls.

"Oh no. We need calendars. We need to remember _important dates_," Massie said before going back up the stairs.

Her work was done.

.:~*~:.

Later that day, Massie sat down in her English class beside Landon.

"So, it's your birthday in three days?" Landon asked her.

"Did Derrick finally figure it out?" Massie asked him.

"No," he frankly answered.

"How'd you know?" Massie asked him, genuinely curious.

"I'm a little bit more sensitive to these things than Derrick is," he admitted in a low voice.

"See, now, why can't he be that observant? I don't get it. I've been dropping hints for the past three days, and I don't think he's figured it out yet. _And _he used to live with two females. I don't think he's new to the whole girl thing," Massie said, shaking her head in disbelief at Derrick's ignorance.

"He'll figure it out," Landon reassured.

.:~*~:.

"Hey, Derrick, what time is it?" Massie asked the next day.

"Um," he looked at his wrist, but there was no watch there. "I forgot my watch."

"Oh, that's okay," she said, taking out her marker. "I'll give you a watch. Come on, give me your wrist."

Derrick, who turned back to watching TV, thought she was seriously giving him a watch, and he gave her his wrist.

After she drew the straps of the watch, Derrick finally realized what she was doing. He looked at her pointedly.

"Just let me draw," Massie said, not even bothering to lift up her head.

"What _are _you drawing?" Derrick asked.

"A watch. Duh," Massie said, finally lifting her head.

"You know, you're being really weird," Derrick commented as she concentrated on her work again.

"I'm done!" Massie announced, shoving his wrist in front of his face.

"12:10? It's 12:10 already?" Derrick asked.

"No. It's probably somewhere around 9:30," Massie said.

"Why 12:10?"

"Did you know that I was born at 12:10 AM?"

"No."

"Oh, well, now you know." She shrugged, her voice going innocent. She stood up and pranced up the stairs.

Derrick shook his head. "Girls get so weird when it's almost their birthday."

.:~*~:.

"Good morning," Massie said, walking gaily into the kitchen.

"Faster, Massie," Derrick said, stuffing his homework into his backpack.

"Why?" Massie asked, opening the fridge to take out the milk.

"We're late," Derrick responded, grabbing his car keys from the table.

"Derrick, we have one hour before school," Massie pointed out.

"I have soccer, Block," he reminded her.

"Fine. Just wait a minute while I grab a Luna bar," Massie said.

Derrick nodded, not able to respond because he was stuffing bread, ham, lettuce, and cheese into his mouth. He motioned to the door, and hurried out, Massie right behind him.

They got into the car, Derrick's mouth still stuffed with food.

Approximately five minutes later, Derrick finally swallowed each and every bite of the food stuffed into his mouth.

"What was that?" Massie asked.

"Unlike you, I can't survive with only a Luna bar for breakfast. I need meat, protein, all that jazz. And since I didn't have time to make a sandwich…"

"You just stuffed everything in your mouth? That is _really _weird, you know?" Massie continued.

"It's all just going to end up in the same place," Derrick reasoned.

"Why'd you wake up late anyway?"

"I slept late."

"Why?"

"Nothing."

It wasn't just nothing, though. Derrick had stayed up late last night, talking to various people about his gift to Massie. But he couldn't tell her that, since he still wasn't telling her that he already found out. She'll just have to get surprised tomorrow.

.:~*~:.

"You look like you're hungry," Landon commented, sitting down beside Massie on the bleachers while she waited for Derrick to finish soccer practice. He was skins, and no matter how hard Massie tries to deny it, Derrick had a _great _body. A _very _great body.

"Yeah, well, I forgot to do my homework and I had to do it during lunch, and I only had a Luna bar for breakfast because Derrick overslept and he was running late for soccer practice," Massie said, watching the dirty blonde catch a speeding ball.

"Let me guess. He did an "it all goes to the same place anyway" thing, didn't he?" Landon asked.

"Yep. Stuffed bread, lettuce, ham and cheese into his mouth. I think he made a sandwich," Massie said, giggling.

"Ha. At least that sounds normal. Once, he stuffed bread, milk, eggs and maple syrup into his mouth. He said, he didn't have the time, patience or energy to cook French toast," Landon said.

Massie laughed, catching the attention of Derrick, who carried on like nothing happened.

Landon handed Massie a soft rectangle wrapped in tissue.

"Ohmygosh, food," Massie said, opening taking off part of the tissue paper wrapping to reveal a ham sandwich, just the way she liked it. Wheat bread, ham, and some mayonnaise.

"This tastes really good," Massie said, covering her mouth with her hand while she chewed.

When she put her hand down, there was a small smear of mayonnaise on her chin.

"You have mayonnaise on your chin," Landon said.

"Where?"

"There."

"Where?"

"There."

"You know what, wipe it off. Seriously, I won't feel weird. It's harmless, and better than me walking around with mayonnaise on my chin," Massie said.

"Um, okay," Landon said, then shrugged. He lifted his hand up to her chin and wiped the mayonnaise off.

Derrick saw.

And then he got hit in the stomach by the ball that Cam kicked towards him. He didn't see that fast ball, because he was distracted.

His stomach was filled with pain, but in his heart, there was this dinosaur that got angry, and he doesn't know why.

He doubled up, clutching his stomach, ignoring the dinosaur and focusing on the pain.

"Derrick!" Massie exclaimed when she saw the ball hit Derrick and he doubled up in pain. She ran down the bleachers and into the crowd of soccer players surrounding Derrick.

"What the hell, dude, I thought you were gonna catch that!" Cam said.

"Yeah, me too," Derrick managed.

**Okay, so this filler chapter ends here, so that the next chapter will all just be about Massie's birthday. **

**The title is from Blow Away by A Fine Frenzy…**

**Review or I will bite all of your cheeks like gaspard ulliel.**


	10. When Your Stars Don't Shine

**Okay. SO SO SORRY FOR MAKING YOU ALL THINK THERE'S A NEW UPDATE (but there is. It's almost done, I just have to finish this ;)) BUT FANFICTION IS BEING ANNOYING. YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY? BECAUSE NONE OF MY PAGE BREAKERS WORK AND I ONLY FOUND OUT NOW! (Because I don't check my stories after it's been posted, and I only checked now because I decided I wanted to reply to reviews—not yet. Still fixing things.)**

**ARGH. I HATE FANFICTION RIGHT NOW.**

**NOW I HAVE TO REPOST CHAPTERS TEN TO THIRTEEN.**

**.:When Your Stars Don't Shine, I'll Give You Mine:.**

"Hey, Derrick," Massie said, sitting across from Derrick on the kitchen counter. Her hair flowed down, and Derrick suddenly had the urge to stroke it. He never noticed how soft and shiny it looked.

He blinked and looked away from her hair, and looked at her face. She was looking at him expectantly.

"What?" he asked, putting on a confused face. He had to pretend that he forgot her birthday. For the surprise party later.

She sighed. "Never mind," she said. She was expecting it.

"Sure," he said, stretching the word, knowing that she was still disappointed even if she expected it.

"I just thought…" she said, more to herself. He pretended like he didn't hear.

"You want cereal?" Derrick asked, pushing the empty bowl on the table towards her. He never prepared an extra bowl for her, but he decided to be completely kind to her today, since it was her birthday.

"Yeah, thanks," she said, pouring out Cheerios on her bowl. She picked up one donut shaped cereal and bit half of it. She poured in the milk, and dropped the uneaten half of the cereal she was holding into the bowl.

"You're quiet," Derrick commented.

"Yeah," she said, then scooped a spoonful of cereal into her milk.

-o-

"Happy birthday!" Kristen Gregory greeted when Massie reached her locker.

"Yeah, Mass, happy birthday!" Dylan Marvil said, hugging the brunette. Dylan gave the best hugs.

"Finally, seventeen!" Alicia Rivera said.

"Ha, now I'm the baby of the group; the only sixteen-year-old in a group of seventeen-year-olds," Claire Lyons said.

"Shut up, Claire. You make me feel old," Massie said, smiling for the first time since breakfast.

"You feeling old makes _me_ feel old," Alicia said, the girl who has the January birthday, making her older than the rest of the girls. They giggled.

"So, you guys want to do something after school? Celebrate before I have dinner with my parents?" Massie asked.

Her face fell when she saw her friends' eyes drop to the ground.

"Sorry, Mass. I have cheerleading," Alicia said.

"I have this thing with my mom in the city," Dylan said. "Tonight's her only free night."

"I have soccer," Kristen said.

Massie looked at Claire. "Sorry, Mass, I have detention, and then I have to finish my English essay. On top of that, I'm grounded for getting detention."

"But you're Claire! You never get detentions," Massie said. It was true. Claire was the kindest person in the world.

"I was eating in class, and Mrs. Link caught me," Claire said.

"Why did you eat in _her_ class? She's the meanest teacher here!"

"I missed lunch," she said.

"Okay, well, it's fine. I still have dinner with my parents."

-o-

"Happy birthday," Landon Crane greeted her during lunch.

"Are you guys throwing a surprise birthday party for me?" Massie asked, straight to the point.

"Nope," Landon said. "Why?"

"It 's just that everyone seems to have forgotten my birthday and made other plans. I've been hoping that all my friends are just ignoring me because of a surprise party when I get home," Massie said.

"I'm sorry, Massie. We're not. The girls are really just busy, and the guys have soccer tryouts later. And I'm trying out," Landon lied. He got in the soccer team three days ago.

"Oh," Massie said, then she sighed. Then she realized something.

"That means Derrick has soccer later?" Massie asked. He was her last hope for having any fun on her birthday.

"Yeah. He's team captain. Wait, did he ever find out that it's your birthday today?" Landon asked, not knowing that Derrick figured it out from the beginning.

"Nope. He's very ignorant," Massie said.

-o-

For dinner, she wore a slightly poufy, royal blue dress that reached to her knees. It wasn't formal; she could wear it out anywhere. It was just her favorite dress. On her feet were gold ballet flats. She thought of wearing heels, but then she realized that she wasn't really going anywhere, so she just stuck to her flats.

"Massie, honey, what do you say we have an early dinner tonight?" Kendra Block asked her as she was looking at herself in the mirror. To feel somewhat special, she added a string of pearls on her neck.

She already fully accepted that she wasn't going to do anything special today, that everyone was just busy, and that there was no surprise party waiting for her when she got home, so she said yes to her mother.

They talked animatedly during dinner, which had all of her favorite food. She smiled, she laughed, she was happy. They finished dinner, and then she had nothing else to do.

She decided to just watch a movie in her room.

"You know, the sound is better in the spa. And the screen's bigger," William Block said as she was about to put the disk in the player.

"You're right," she said, smiling up at her dad. She put the DVD back in its case.

She grabbed another movie, adding to the one she was already holding. _Sydney White_ and _She's The Man. _Guess it's an Amanda Bynes chick flick movie marathon.

She walked towards the spa, her head down, looking at her every step.

She didn't even bother to look up when she opened the door.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

She screamed in shock and dropped her DVDs.

It was like a bomb exploded in her ears as everyone she knew stared singing the Happy Birthday song. She wanted to say that she knew this was coming, but she couldn't because it wasn't true. She was grinning from ear-to-ear as she saw her best friends holding a banner that said, "We love you too much to forget."

And she loved them too.

Then she saw Derrick approaching her with a giant birthday cake in his arms.

That surprised her the most.

"I thought you forgot!" Massie exclaimed.

"Block, I've known ever since you put up the first calendar," he admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Massie asked, her eyes widening.

"It was fun watching you," he smirked.

"Blow out your candles Massie," Alicia said. "But make a wish first."

She closed her eyes as everyone sang the Happy Birthday song again.

When she finished her wish, she took a deep breath and blew out her candles with one breath. Everyone clapped.

"Bah. Smoke," Derrick said, going away to put the cake on a table.

"So, were you surprised?" Dylan asked.

"Duh. I just accepted that I wasn't doing anything special for my birthday this year, so I thought, "I'll just watch a movie then." And when I get here, everyone's here!" Massie said, smiling. She can't seem to stop smiling.

Kristen picked up the DVDs from the floor. "_Sydney White_ and _She's The Man_? You know, you should've added _What A Girl Wants_."

"What's the point? She won't watch any of it anymore anyway," Kemp Hurley said.

"So, Claire, how was 'detention?'" Massie asked, putting air quotes around the last word.

"Massie, I never get caught eating in class," Claire said.

"That's actually true," Chris Plovert said.

"No way, you have to teach me how," Landon said, coming over to join the group. Three days after he came to Westchester, he was already friends with everybody, and they all loved him.

"Sure," Claire said.

"So, Massie, how awesome is your surprise party?" he asked, turning to her.

"Oh, you mean my 'I'm sorry Massie, everyone's really just busy' party?" she said. "It's pretty great."

"Sorry," he shrugged. "I had to keep it a secret."

"So, who planned this anyway?" Massie asked, and she saw all of them shoot looks at each other. "Tell me," she said.

"Believe it or not, it was Derrick," Cam Fisher answered.

Massie's mouth dropped open. "Are you serious? Is this some kind of joke?"

"Nope. He really did plan this. We helped, of course, but it was mostly him," Josh Hotz said.

She looked at Kristen for confirmation. "They're telling the truth."

Massie was shocked. Derrick? Derrick picked on her every day. Derrick planned this? Derrick?

She broke out of her momentary shocked trance, and said, "I think it's time I gave Derrick a thank-you hug, right?" She walked away in search of the dirty blonde before anyone could say anything else.

She found him, stuffing a potato chip into his mouth.

"Derrick!" she called out.

"He—whoa!" he said, as Massie threw her arms around him. "This is new."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she said.

"For what?"

"This party." She let go of him. His face was red, but he smirked to cover it up.

"Don't get used to my kindness," he said.

Their group of friends saw this whole exchange.

"Massie and Derrick are perfect for each other, don't you think?" Alicia said.

"Yeah. Everyone knows it too," Dylan said.

"Everyone but them," Claire added.

"If only they knew," Kristen said. "What do you boys think?"

"Yeah," Josh said.

"I agree," Cam said.

"Me too," Kemp said.

"Me three," Plovert said.

They looked at Landon, who was silent because he was watching Derrick and Massie bicker. "Yeah, they are," he said.

But a part of him wished they weren't.

-o-

"Okay, Landon next," Derrick said, pushing Landon so that he could give Massie his gift. Landon brought out a blue Tiffany & Co. box, and the girls in the area let out a collective gasp. Massie opened it to find a silver necklace with a star-shaped pendant, and she smiled up at Landon.

"This is so beautiful," she said, and the dinosaur in Derrick's heart roared in anger.

"Okay! Time for my present! And you know what they say, 'Save the best for last!'" Derrick said, grabbing Massie's wrist and bringing her outside. Everyone followed.

He called someone on his phone, and told Massie to look up.

BOOM!

Happy Birthday was written in the sky.

There was another explosion, and now Massie could see her name.

In the sky.

Written using fireworks.

She was speechless.

"So, how was that?" Derrick said.

"That was…" Massie said, but she couldn't find the words.

It was probably the best birthday gift she has ever received.

-o-

Back inside the spa, Derrick handed Massie his "real" gift. It was a snow globe, bigger than your average one, with a pale purple fairytale castle inside, swirling silver glitter around it. The size, the shape, the workmanship, and the quality suggested that it was customized. Specially made for her.

She was once again taken aback by Derrick's actions.

"Picture! I want Massie, Derrick, and Landon," Alicia said, holding up a camera. "Yes, even you Landon. You're the only one who doesn't have a picture with the birthday girl," she said when Landon tried to refuse.

Derrick and Landon stood on either side of a smiling Massie. They put identical smiles on their faces too.

"Okay, one, two, three!" The camera clicked, and the screen showed a picture of a smiling, happy girl in the middle of two boys that are slowly starting to hate each other.

And the real party starts.

**Yes, the plot is starting! It will slowly build up from now on…**

**Review?**

**Oh yeah, the title for this chapter is from A Million Kisses by Romance On A Rocketship.**


	11. You Shine Brighter Than Anyone Does

**Sorry for the late update :) **

**And…bad news: this story will probably only last until chapter fifteen. It's ending :(**

**.:You Shine Brighter Than Anyone Does:.**

Massie Block (Harrington) laughed at the joke Landon Crane just told her.

They were in the kitchen of the Block Estate guesthouse, where Massie and Derrick Harrington were staying. Landon has been visiting them every day now, making Massie laugh. He was a good friend. He was kind, he was funny, and he was respectful. He was fun to be with.

"I have an idea," Landon said when their laughter ceased.

"What?"

"We should revisit our childhood today. You know, do the things we did when we were kids," Landon said, looking at Massie hopefully.

Massie pretended to consider for a moment.

"What do we do first?"

-o-

"Wait! We forgot the moat!" Massie said, remembering a very crucial part of their sandcastle. "A sandcastle is not complete without a moat!"

She grabbed the little plastic shovel she used, and started digging a moat around the sandcastle. Landon suggested that they make a sandcastle first, and she remembered the small little sandbox she used to play in when she was a child. They were so big now, they couldn't even fit inside the sandbox. They were both sitting down on the ground. "Are you going to help me or not?" Massie asked, stopping long enough for Landon to grab the other shovel and help her.

"What are you guys doing?" Derrick Harrington said, walking over to them. He just came from Cam's house, and didn't know anything about Massie and Landon being five-year-olds again.

"Revisiting our childhood," Massie said, echoing Landon's earlier words.

"What?"

"You know, doing the things we used to love doing when we were kids," Landon answered, not bothering to lift up his head to look at Derrick.

"Why?"

"Just because," Massie answered, smoothing the sides of her side of the moat.

Derrick stood there, watching them(Massie) with an unreadable expression on his face. When they finally finished five minutes later, he was still watching. Massie stood up and looked at him weirdly. "What's with the face?" Massie asked.

Derrick was brought out of his reverie by her voice. "Nothing. Just spacing out."

"Okaaay."

"So, what are you guys doing next?"

-o-

"Where's the red crayon?" Landon asked, searching their table for the crayon.

"Here," Massie said, handing it to him and grabbing the blue crayon. Massie suggested that they color some old coloring books that Kendra kept.

"Mine's going to be awesome," Landon said.

"Oh, no way. I'm a coloring pro," Massie countered.

"No. I was awesome. Ask Derrick. When he would color, he would always go past the lines. I never did. Right, Derrick?" Landon asked, turning to the blonde sitting down on the kitchen counter, spacing out…again.

"Derrick?"

"What?"

"What is wrong with you today?" Massie asked, her eyebrows crinkling together.

"Nothing." Derrick shook his head. "What was your question?" he asked, turning to his cousin.

-o-

"Derrick's acting weird," Massie said as her and Landon sat beside their sandcastle. It was seven p.m., and they were tired of their reminiscing. Now, they were both admiring their work.

"I noticed."

"What do you think is wrong?"

"You can never really tell with Derrick. He's kind of…ambiguous. You'd need a mind-reader or a psychic to fully know what he's thinking about without asking him, and there's no use asking him because he won't answer properly anyway," Landon said, grabbing a handful of sand and letting it fall through his fingers.

"I never want to be a psychic, or a mind-reader," Massie said, absentmindedly pulling grass from the ground.

"Why not?"

"If I were a psychic, life would be boring. I'd know everything that would happen, and it would take out the surprise and the thrill of life. If I were a mind-reader, I'd know everything that people are thinking, and about half of those thoughts are things I would never, ever, want to think about. And, I'd know exactly what people think about me, which I don't think would be good. Also, mind-reading takes away the fun of being with a person, of hanging-out with them. And conversations would be weird and uncomfortable," Massie said, then she looked up at Landon, who was regarding her thoughtfully. "Would you want to be a mind-reader? Or a psychic? Maybe you'd want to be immortal, too."

"Psh, no. I'm too cool to be a Twilight vampire. Why would I want to be immortal? If you were immortal, you'd have to watch everyone you love die and leave you, and in the end, you'd be pretty lonely. And, you'd probably get tired of living."

"I agree. Time-traveling would be cool, too. I mean, you know, the one wherein you can't change the future. Like, you're only watching your past and what happened. Like the invention of Lewis from _Meet the Robinsons_, except I don't want to just watch it from a screen. I want to be there, but no one knows I'm there," Massie said.

"Like Harry Potter?"

"Exactly!" Massie said, giggling. "Yeah! I want a Pensieve!"

"What are you guys talking about?" Asked Derrick's voice from behind them.

"The past," Landon said vaguely.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Okay," Derrick said, feeling indignant, unwanted and out-of-place. Not his favorite feelings, and he doesn't know why, but he blames Landon for these feelings. Maybe they're justified, maybe they're not, he doesn't care.

"Hey, Derrick, I need you to do something," Landon said. Then he whispered conspiratorially to his cousin, while Massie narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

The next thing she knew, Derrick had his arms around her and was holding her up against her will. She tried getting away, but it was no use; he was stronger than her. Landon immediately grabbed her shoes and ran away, and Derrick released her. She ran after Landon, calling out his name and shouting at him to "give me my shoe back!" while Derrick watched, laughing at Massie's face.

But then he stopped abruptly.

And he stood there, watching Massie chase Landon across the garden, feeling significantly…

…insignificant.

**Yes, yes, yes, Massie is now close to Landon.**

**Gosh, this is such a lousy chapter. I'm sorry, but I fell into a terrible bout of writer's block. Seriously. No inspiration at all. But then, I forbade myself from using the internet until I have finished at least one chapter from one of my stories.**

**Fact: I'm working on a new chapter for each of my main stories, but every single one of those chapters are only halfway through. Like this was. It was sitting there, half-done for a long time.**

**Oh, well, we are going to reach our climax soon. You want to know one thing? Sometimes, I wish I could just write the climax of the story. Seriously, skip everything then go straight to the climax. And, then, don't bother to write the start and middle of a story. Is that weird?**


	12. I Won't Cry

**Almost ending :( Which is why I'll try to update more. Because it's almost the end. Yeah... **

**Okay, so, yeah. This chapter is, again, dedicated to xoxoDDLSG, because she's the one who reminded me that I have to update. And, Ericka, I hope the British voice in your head is saying, "Yay, Bianca updated, yay, Bianca updated…" :)**

**.: I won't cry :.**

Alicia Rivera was in her father's office, looking through some of his past and present cases. This was what she did from time to time, because she liked reading their different situations and stuff. She was doing this now before she went to Massie's house for the sleepover.

"What happened here?" Alicia asked her father, looking at the title of the folder. "Helen Murray case."

"Oh, you don't want to read about that," Len Rivera said, scowling at the memory of _that _case. "It's repulsive. Helen Murray stole all of her own jewelry and blamed it on her mother-in-law, all because she hated her mother-in-law."

Alicia scrunched up her nose. What people did these days were preposterous. "How about this one?" She said, holding up a file labeled 'Samuels-Adamson.'

"Oh, a custody case," Len said.

"Who did the kid go to?" Alicia asked. She was always curious about custody and divorce cases. They were tragic, yes, but they were interesting. "And why did they divorce?"

"The kid went to the mother," Len said. "And, well, they never actually divorced. They didn't have a legal marriage in the first place."

This sparked her interest. "Yeah? Why? What happened?"

"The child was a result of teen pregnancy. Their parents were opposed to them marrying at such a young age—they were only sixteen, by the way—and so they eloped to Vegas and got married using fake IDs," Len explained, not knowing that his words were freakishly affecting Alicia. "They didn't have their parent's consent, and they got married using fake IDs. Which renders the marriage null and void."

"Really?" Alicia said, her eyes wide. "A marriage without parental consent and fake IDs aren't real marriages?"

"Yes."

And Alicia hurriedly swept from the room, leaving her confused father behind.

**(Earlier in the day)**

"Hey, Derrick, where's the Titanic?" Massie Block said, popping her head into Derrick Harrington's room.

Derrick looked at her. It was weird. He never really noticed it, but Massie sometimes turned him scatter-brained. It was annoying, because all he could focus on right now was her hair, her flowing hair which he _really _wanted to touch right now.

_Focus, Derrick, focus! Titanic! Okay, you watched that movie because Sammi forced you to, remember? Yeah…okay, so what happened? Argh! All I can remember was the boat sinking!_

"Um, the bottom of the sea?" Derrick said. _What else? _"And, I'm not sure, but I think that it was from the UK, going to the US." _Sammi told you something about dates! April 14, right? _"I think Sammi mentioned something about it hitting the iceberg on April 14 and sinking the next day. Yeah."

After he was done, he noticed Massie looking at him like he was stupid.

"I was talking about the DVD we own," Massie said, before bursting into laughter. After her words registered in her brain, he ended up laughing, too. _Oh, gosh, that was a fail._

Massie was more…carefree now, he noticed. She laughed more. And, before, when he would commit a mistake like this, she would've probably criticized him. But she didn't now. She laughed. It was weird…but nice. But weird. And sometimes, he missed the old Massie. Well, not really, but it was amusing fighting it her.

_Holy—what is wrong with you, Derrick Harrington? You DO NOT MISS the old MASSIE BLOCK. These past few weeks, you have been acting weird. What is wrong with you? Okay, fine, maybe, you know, you and her are friends now, but why does the sight of that stupid necklace annoy you?_

And it was. His laughter died when he saw it. Stupid star-shaped pendant. And, really, a star? How original. _Wait. Titanic. Yeah. How the hell are you supposed to know where your copy of the TITANIC is? Oh. Wait. Yeah. You remember now. You saw it behind the Texas Chainsaw Massacre DVDs._

"It's behind the Texas Chainsaw Massacre DVDs," he blurted out.

"Why would it be there?"

"I don't know."

"Whatever."

**(A few hours later)**

"So. What's up?" Derrick asked as Massie slammed open the door into his room, looking harassed.

"Can I borrow your pillows?" she asked, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"My what?" Derrick asked, not sure he heard right. He was pretty sure he didn't just hear Massie borrow his _pillows. _

"Please, please, please? I swear I will repay you if you lend them to me. Just for a night," Massie said. Okay, so maybe she did want the pillows. _Why?_

"Why do you want my _pillows_?" Derrick asked, putting emphasis on the last word to let her know he thought her request sounded ridiculous.

"Because I'm having a sleepover, and I need more pillows! Come on! Please? I would borrow from the Main House, but there's nobody there!"

"Why?"

"I don't know!" Massie said. "I'm begging you."

"Uh…okay?" Derrick said, not really sure if what he was doing was right. "Just leave one for me, okay?"

"I thought you were going out with the guys?"

"Yes." Derrick blinked. "But I still need to sleep, right?"

"Oh yeah," she said absently as she gathered his pillows, pulling one out from behind him. "Thanks, Derrick!"

_DERRICK! YOU DID NOT FOCUS! WHY IN THE WORLD DID YOU GIVE HER YOUR PILLOWS?_

_And why shouldn't I?_

_Because you like it when you have lots of pillows!_

_Oh, yeah, well, whatever._

_What is wrong with you? What is Massie doing to you?_

_Nothing!_

_You have been like this ever since you went and threw her a party! Wait, no! you've been giving in to her ever since Vegas!_

_No._

_Yes!_

_NO!_

_YES!_

_God, sometimes I hate myself when I have fights like this in my head. Wait. Actually, I've only been doing this ever since that stupid party I threw._

_See? I told you! She's doing something to you!_

_She IS NOT doing anything to me!_

_Oh, yeah, then why do you get pissed off whenever you see that stupid necklace?_

_I don't get pissed off!_

_Oh, yeah, you get jealous!_

_No!_

_YES!_

_NO!_

_YES!_

_I'm not jealous of Landon!_

_I never said anything about you being jealous of Landon._

_Yeah, well, it was implied._

_Yes, but you figured it out yourself. You're jealous of your cousin._

_NO, I'M NOT! I mean, I've never really been jealous of Landon, I mean, come on, Grandma totally loved me more._

_That's beside the point. Okay. You're jealous of Landon. Why?_

At this point Derrick realized that arguing with himself must be some sort of schizophrenic disorder, so he stopped.

_Okay, I'm not jealous of Landon, right? I just feel pissed whenever I see the stupid star necklace. Why in the world do I get pissed? Ah, fuck it. Get up and go to Cam's._

He stood up and got dressed quickly, grabbing his wallet and phone before going out of his room.

"Massie! I'm going to Cam's now!" he yelled through the house, not really sure where she was.

"Okay! Bye!" she yelled back, sounding like she was in the kitchen.

He opened the door and stepped out into the cool night air, and got into his car and started driving.

He completely missed Alicia speeding to get to the Block Estate.

-o-

"Hey. Everyone's here already," Cam said when he opened the door.

_Yeah, well, _they _didn't have internal debates with themselves, did they?_

"Good."

-o-

"Yeah, and it was so annoying," Chris Plovert said, ranting about some Marco dude from Claire's English class. "I mean, really, who gives her a pen for Christmas? And why should he give her anything for Christmas anyway? And she goes on complaining about how she loves that pen and it was her favorite pen and she always uses it for essays and stuff. Come on. It's a _pen._"

"Wow, Plovert," Landon said, and Derrick felt irritated. And he doesn't know why. It's just that, for the whole time he's been here, Landon's been pissing him off. Really. And it was for totally acceptable reasons. Like talking. "You sound really jealous, dude."

"I'm not jealous," Plovert said defensively. "I just really hate that pen."

"You're pissed because she keeps using the pen some other guy gave her, and you're pissed every time you see it," Landon said, pointing things out while Derrick got annoyed by his voice. _Hey, Derrick, this is your cousin we're talking about! _"You get mad every time you see him, and you get annoyed just by the sound of his voice. Accept it, dude. You're jealous."

Derrick was struck by his words (oh, come on. Just because he was pissed off by the voice doesn't mean he wasn't listening.) Was he—dare he say it?—_jealous _of Landon? _Jealous_ of _Landon Crane_, his cousin? And because of _Massie_?

No way.

NO FREAKING WAY.

He couldn't really be _jealous _could he? I mean, if you were jealous, it had to be because of something…or someone. And he didn't even _like _like Massie, right? Right?

Right?

Right?

_Well, I like her hair. Yeah. It looks so soft and shiny and stuff. Yeah. Sometimes, I want to touch—wait, no I don't! I don't want to touch Massie Block's hair! _

_Her cheeks are cool too. I mean, they're kind of smooth looking and kind of rosy and—no! You don't want to touch Massie Block's cheeks!_

_But her lips are so curvy, too. Yeah. Pink and curvy and soft. Yeah. And when she smirks or smiles, her lips look even curvier. Yeah. And sometimes, her lips look soft enough to—NO! WE ARE NOT GOING THERE!_

_Eyes. Yes. Her eyes were pretty. I mean, they were amber. That eye-color, you don't get to see much. Granted, it does get pretty scary when she glares at me. But whatever. Her eyes are pretty. They were kind of big and framed by long, full eyelashes, and sometimes, when the sunlight hits her eyes, they kind of turn gold and I sometimes want to stare at them and—SHUT THE HELL UP, BRAIN!_

_Because I do not like, Massie Block, right? NO WAY. THAT WAS IMPOSSIBLE. _

_Granted, it was also impossible that I would marry her, and look where we are now._

_But that was an accident, so I don't count that._

_NOT AT ALL._

-o-

"MASSIE!" Massie heard Alicia's voice shout her name and she winced.

"Alicia, easy on the caps!" Massie said, smiling as she emerged from the kitchen.

"I need to tell you something!" Alicia said.

"Later," Massie said, frowning at the Hispanic. Maybe she had too much Coke again. The drink, I mean. Not the other one.

"But it's really important!"

"Tell me later! When everyone's here!"

Alicia took a deep breath and calmed down. _Maybe it was for the best that they would all be there when Massie received the blow. I mean, seriously, everyone knows it's not happy news. Obviously we all know that Massie is so in love with Derrick and Derrick is so in love with her, too. I suspect even Massie knows. But she doesn't realize it yet. For someone so smart, she could be so frustratingly ignorant. Derrick, too. Gosh, why won't they just realize it and admit it yet? Yes, it's entertaining, but it's also so frustratingly…frustrating!_

-o-

"Dude, what's wrong with you?" Josh said, snapping his fingers in front of Derrick's blank face. Derrick snapped out of his trance.

"Bet you he was thinking about Massie," Kemp said, smirking.

Derrick gave him a sarcastic smile. "Actually, Kemp, I was."

"And?" Cam asked.

"And…" Was he really going to do this? "And I think I might actually like her. And I mean _really _like."

"Finally!"

-o-

"Okay, so this might come as a shock to you," Alicia said, looking at Massie seriously. Massie looked slight concerned about how Alicia was acting.

"Massie, what is this?" Kristen asked, pulling off something from the pillow on Massie's lap. Massie looked at it and let out a laugh. It was the picture of Derrick she cut out off of a group picture and stabbed with a red pen. It even still had the tape on.

"I got mad at Derrick," she explained. No way was she going to tell them _why, _though.

"Okay," Kristen said slowly. "And why was it on your pillow?"

"This isn't my pillow. This is his."

"Why do you have his pillows?" Dylan asked, trying hard to cover up her smirk.

"Because no one was in the Main House, so I couldn't borrow more pillows," Massie defended, noting the suggestive looks on her friends' faces.

"Right," Claire said sarcastically. "So lucky you had someone with you in this Guesthouse." Claire said, looking around dramatically at her old bedroom.

"Shut up or I'm going to take a picture of that vandalism you put on the wall and post it on Facebook!"

"What vandalism?"

"Your 'Claire + Plovert' etching on the wall behind the bed! And, for the record, you weren't even together yet!"

"Hey! You can't do that!"

"My house, my Facebook!"

"People!" Alicia said, turning everyone's attention on her. "I'm announcing something important!"

"Sorry, Leesh," Massie said. "Continue."

"As I was saying," Alicia said, then she cleared her throat, not really sure how to say what she was going to say.

"Spit it out, Leesh," Dylan advised.

"Fine." Alicia took a deep breath. "Derrick and Massie aren't really married because their parents didn't give their consent and they got married with fake IDs which renders the marriage null and void."

Everyone was quiet as they all looked at Massie.

Okay, she knows that she would've been ecstatic if Alicia told her this before.

But, now, she feels like her heart just fell off a cliff.

**Yes, you all hate me.**

**But, as I am so emotionally stable I think I may be turning apathetic, I don't really mind. **

**Because it's the sad, sad truth.**

**Derrick and Massie aren't really married, since they used fake IDs.**

**Oh, well. **

**Yeah…**

**I really am so emotionally stable it disturbs me.**

***awkward silence***

**Okay, I do not know why, but there is something wrong with me. I mean, I was reading past chapters and noting that I might sound different. I think I do sound different…maybe it was the long pause in this story or something, but yeah. There's a difference. So, yeah, I don't know how to fix that…I'm contemplating rewriting the whole story someday, but I don't know. And…I have an annoying problem that you people may have noticed. I never put enough hints that Derrick was actually starting to like Massie. Or, I don't know, maybe he's only realizing it now or something, but whatever. Sorry if you have a problem with the sudden jump. But I will try my best to work with what I've got.**

**Oh, hahaha, I made Derrick fight with himself in his head.**


	13. When I Wake Up, The Dream Isn't Done

**Hello there, people of fanfiction. Here is chapter thirteen, and…yeah, let's just get on with it.**

**Massie's flashback is going to be in first person, kay?**

**(title: painting flowers, all-time low)**

**.:When I wake up, the dream isn't done:.  
**_I wanna see your face and know I made it home_

_Derrick's pillow smells like Derrick_, Massie Block thought.

It smells good.

Massie sighed, rolling over and accidentally bumping into Kristen Gregory's sleeping form. She moved a bit, so that she won't wake the blonde.

They were in her room, it was 4 a.m., and she hasn't really slept yet. While watching a movie, the girls fell asleep one-by-one, on the thin mattresses placed on the floor. This always happened, anyway. Sleepover, do some fun stuff, watch a movie, fall asleep together in front of the movie. Sometimes they finished a movie, sometimes they didn't. Tonight, Massie was the only one who finished the movie, since Claire fell asleep an hour ago, right in the middle of the movie. She has been trying to sleep for the past thirty minutes, but nothing happened.

She sighed again, and the events of last night replayed in her head.

-o-

"_Fine." Alicia took a deep breath. "Derrick and Massie aren't really married because their parents didn't give their consent and they got married with fake IDs which render the marriage null and void."_

_Everyone was quiet as they all looked at me. _

_I smiled and scoffed. "Really? Good. Oh, my gosh, that's good news! I'm single again!"_

_Damn. That sounded completely fake. But it would do for now, and I hope they buy it._

"_You're not, you know…distressed?" Dylan asked me worriedly. Who am I kidding? These people here were my best friends. They knew me. They knew if I was lying._

"_No," I said, trying to keep cool. "Why would I be? Though, I'm kind of sad that we had to go through all that trouble. Oh, well, I guess it's good. I mean, Derrick and I became friends, and that's good, right? Yeah. But, I am kind of sad that no one's going to live in the guesthouse now." His name sounded weird coming out of my mouth._

"_You sure you're okay?" Kristen asked._

"_Yeah, I'm fine," I said._

_Oh, gosh, my eyes are prickling and I feel like crying._

_No. No. I will not cry._

_Why would I cry?_

_It's not like I like like Derrick, right?_

_Right?_

_Yeah._

_But then, ever since that stupid concert we had, and that stupid birthday party he threw me, I've been feeling kind of…different around him._

_That doesn't mean I like like him, right?_

_Right?_

_-o-_

_Derrick arrived back home a few hours after Alicia dropped the stupid bomb, and I begged all of them to keep quiet and not tell him anything. I'll tell him myself._

_When I opened the door and saw him, I felt like crying again._

_Gosh, Massie, what the hell is wrong with your tear ducts?_

"_You're looking at me weirdly," he said, sidestepping around me to get inside._

"_Sorry," I said quietly._

"_You're quiet," he remarked._

_I shrugged. "Goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow. And thanks for the pillows," I said._

_He nodded and went inside the kitchen while I headed back upstairs._

"_Why are you back so fast?" Claire asked._

"_Why shouldn't I be?" I said, trying to sound preppy again. Not really working, since I felt kind of…empty? And like my heart's not in the right place._

_Why am I feeling like this?_

_I took a deep breath. "Okay, people. I found some really old pictures of us, and I wanted to show you!" I said, walking towards my closet._

"_Did you tell him?" Alicia asked._

"_No," I said bluntly. "I'll tell him tomorrow. He's probably tired after going to Cam's."_

"_Oh. Okay."_

-o-

Massie sighed again, and decided to just get up and go out. It was 4:45; maybe she could watch the sunrise. Maybe. Or maybe she could fall asleep on the grass. She was fine either way.

She stepped out onto the cool early morning air, and she decided that she loves this time. She loves how peaceful it is, how cool it is, and how beautiful everything seemed. She went right in the middle of the garden that separated the Main House and the Guesthouse, and lay down on the dewy grass. She looked up at the sky, and she smiled at how pretty the stars looked. Maybe she should do this more often.

The silence brought out her thoughts.

Shouldn't she be happy that she was single again? That she was free? That she wasn't tied down to _Derrick Harrington_ anymore?

Yes. She should. She was seventeen years old. She was meant to be free and unmarried. She closed her eyes and sighed again.

_Then why do I feel like this?_

Yes. Why?

_I mean, I don't even like Derrick as more than a friend, right?_

_Right._

_Then why in the world do I feel so…so…heartbroken?_

Her eyes snapped open. Heartbroken? She felt _heartbroken?_

_No. The only way I could feel heartbroken was if I was, you know, _in love_ with Derrick. And I wasn't._

_Right?_

_Right. I mean, I don't feel all fluttery when I see him, and I don't feel tingly when I see him, and I don't involuntarily smile when I see the snow globe he gave me._

_So I couldn't be in love. Right?_

_Wait. I did. I felt fluttery when I saw him yesterday. And I felt tingly when I saw him the day before yesterday, and I always smile involuntarily when I see the snow globe._

_But, really, that can't be the only way to tell you're in love with someone, right?_

_Okay. So what if I always think about him? He lives with me! He's—wait. He's not anymore. He never actually was married, right?_

_Anyway. What's love, anyway?_

She couldn't answer that. She closed her eyes again. Maybe she should just sleep.

"Nice sleeping place," she heard a voice say, and her eyes snapped open to see Derrick smiling down at her. Speak of the devil. "I lend you my pillows, and you leave them behind?"

Massie smiled. She couldn't help it. She felt…fluttery. And tingly. And she just smiled involuntarily.

"Mind if I try out your new bed?" he asked, a smile on his face.

"Go ahead," Massie said, and he lay down beside her. She was highly aware of his presence just a few inches away from her, and she could feel the heat radiating off him. They were quiet, and Massie could feel her heart beat faster. _Babumpbabumpbabump._

_Why is my heart beating faster?_

"Why are you out here?" she asked, in a futile attempt to control her heart.

"Couldn't sleep," he answered, and she realizes she's never really noticed how nice his voice sounds. It was so smooth, and deep, and manly and so…so…nice.

"So you decided to go out here?" she asked again. Just to hear his voice.

"Nope." He turned his head to look at her. "I saw you lying here outside, and I thought I'd join you in your cliché."

She turned her head to scowl at him.

"Oh, come on, Massie. You know perfectly well how clichéd this is."

"I like clichés."

"Sure you do."

"I do! I mean, I like sweet, romantic clichés. Like, kisses in the rain, sunrises, sunsets, fairytale endings. Those kinds of stuff."

"You are such a girl," he said, and he prayed she didn't notice how her words were affecting him. Romantic clichés? They were in the middle of a romantic cliché?

"I _am_ a girl."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot."

Massie smacked his arm.

She can't believe she just touched him.

_Oh, gosh, Massie. You're acting like you have a school girl crush! NO, YOU DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON DERRICK HARRINGTON!_

"The sky is so pretty," Massie said, noting how the sky was lightening. Derrick looked up also. The sky wasn't nearly as pretty as her. _You did not just think of that, okay?_

"Yeah. It is," Derrick said, and he prayed—again—that she didn't notice the double meaning in his words.

"I think this is my favorite time of the day. Dawn and dusk. Sunset and sunrise. Yeah," Massie said, getting lost in her own world, but still horribly aware of the boy beside her. "Yeah. Those are my favorites. And, for a weird reason, I like midnight, too."

"Why do you like midnight?"

"I don't know. I just do."

They stayed in silence for a few more minutes, Derrick subtly looking at Massie, while Massie tried to ignore her beating, fluttery, and tingling heart.

_Oh, gosh, Massie. You're not actually _in love_, are you?_

She couldn't be.

"_If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world_?" she mumbled, and he didn't hear it properly.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just remembered something. It's not important," she said, and they were quiet again.

_THERE IS A SONG LYRIC THAT APPLIES TO OUR CURRENT SITUATION. A SONG LYRIC FROM ONE OF THE SWEETEST SONGS EVER. A LOVE SONG. NO WAY. _

_Oh, gosh. That doesn't really pertain to anything, right?_

_RIGHT?_

_Who in the world am I kidding?_

_I, Massie Block, may just be in love._

"Hey, the sun is rising," Derrick said, snapping Massie out if her thoughts. She looked up at the sky. He was right. It was lighting up, and it looked like it was being painted with pinks and golds and oranges and yellows, mashing together to create one of the best scenes Massie has ever seen. "Now you can cross out sunrise from your romantic cliché list."

"Yeah," Massie said, noting how she spent this with _him. _

And they were quiet again, letting the sun rise, showering them with pinks and golds and oranges and yellows.

A romantic cliché it is.

-o-

The bright orange glow from the window was the first thing Kristen Gregory noticed when she woke up. She stood up, stretched, and walked over to the window. Judging by the light, it was just past sunrise. She looked down, and her eyes widened at the scene in front of her.

Massie Block and Derrick Harrington, sleeping side-by-side on the garden as the sun bathed them in light, giving them a beautiful glow.

She hurriedly grabbed Dylan Marvil's camera (because it was right beside her), opened the window, and leaned out as far as she could to take a picture.

Romantic clichés like that need to be remembered forever.

**Mwahahahahahaha :)**

**How was that chapter?**

**Ha, I originally planned a different route for this chapter, but, I don't know, I got carried away.**

**Review?**


	14. If Nothing Is True, What More Can I Do?

**KA-BLAM! UPDATE!**

**I am seriously happy about that.**

**And that's all because I got reviews that made me happy. **

**YAY **

**Okay, so this was supposed to be what really happened in the last chapter, but then it would've been too long, so I decided to just post another chapter. This happens after all the girls leave and stuff.**

**(title: painting flowers, all-time low - since this is a continuing chapter, I just used the same song. The next lines of the song, though.)**

**.:If nothing is true, what more can I do?:.  
**_I am still painting flowers for you_

Massie Block was frustrated.

She just realized she loves Derrick Harrington.

And she _knows_ he doesn't feel the same way.

_I mean, this was _Derrick Harrington_ we're talking about. He used to hate me! And the only reason we became friends was because of that stupid Vegas incident. Oh, gosh, what am I going to do? I still have to tell him about how we're not legally married, and then he'll leave for sure, and then…what am I going to do?_

She slammed her head into her pillow and screamed.

She grabbed her iPod and plugged her earphones in. She played a random song.

_The stars lean down to kiss you/and I lie awake and miss you/Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere/cause I'll doze of safe and soundly/but I'll miss your arms around me/I'll send a postcard to you dear,/cause I wish you were here/I'll watch the night turn light blue/but it's not the same without you/because it takes two to whisper quietly/the silence isn't so bad,/till I look at my hands and feel sad/cause the spaces between my fingers are right where yours fit perfectly._

_Oh, my gosh. I'm crying. I'm serious. I'm crying! Because of a song! A SONG! Stupid Owl City. Stupid Adam Young. STUPID SONG._

She wiped her tears away, and went to the next song.

_What day is it?/And in what month?/This clock never seemed so alive/I can't keep up and I can't back down/I've been losing so much time/Cause it's you and me, and all of the people with nothing to do, nothing to lose/And it's you and me, and all of the people and I don't know why, I can't keep my eyes off of you._

Next song.

_I like where we are/When we drive in your car/I like where we are/Here/Our lips, can touch/Our cheeks, can brush/Our lips, can touch/Here/Well, you are the one, the one that lies close to me/Whispers "Hello, I miss you quite terribly"/I fell in love, in love with you suddenly/Now there's no place else I could be/But here in your arms._

Next. Song.

_This is the way you left me, I'm not pretending/No hope, no love, no glory/No happy ending/This is the way that we love/Like it's forever/Then live the rest of our lives/But not together._

_Next. Song. _

_It's my heart you're stealing/It's my heart you take/It's my heart you're dealing with/And it's my heart you'll break._

NEXT. SONG.

_I don't want this moment to ever end/Where everything's nothing without you/I'll wait here forever just to, to see you smile/'Cause it's true, I am nothing without you/Through it all, I made my mistakes/I stumble and fall, but I mean these words/I want you to know/With everything I won't let this go/These words are my heart and soul/I'll hold on to this moment you know/'Cause I'd bleed my heart out to show/And I won't let go_

Massie pulled the earphones off her ears, screamed, and thrust her iPod towards her door the exact same time it opened. She expected it to crash against the opening door, but it didn't.

Derrick Harrington caught it using his annoying(amazing) goalie skills.

"Throwing iPods," he said, looking at the device in his hand. "I'm not sure I like your new hobby."

"Shut up," she snapped. She was angry at him for making her fall in love with him. Stupid Derrick Harrington with his stupid goalie skills and his stupid nice eyes and his stupid dirty blonde hair and that stupid smirk on his face. Stupid love.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, placing the iPod on her desk, away from her iPod-throwing hands.

"Everything's so…so…_stupid_!" she exclaimed, falling back on her bed.

"Care to explain why?"

"No!" she said, her frustration seeping out. _STUPID. DERRICK. HARRINGTON_. "Stupid music. Stupid songs. Stupid iPod. Stupid door. Stupid earphones. Stupid world. Stupid Owl City. Stupid Lifehouse. Stupid Hellogoodbye. Stupid Mika. Stupid The Perishers. Stupid Sum 41. Stupid goalie skills. Stupid…stupid…" she trailed off, and she saw that Derrick was trying to hold back his laughter. "Stupid Derrick Harrington!"

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "I didn't do anything."

"Yes, you did! This is all your fault!"

"What did I do?"

"NOTHING!"

Derrick stared at her. "You're blaming me because I didn't do anything?"

"YES!"

"You're being weird, so I'm going to go now," he said, walking backwards out the door.

_Yes. This was all his fault. For doing nothing. I fell in love with him, and he didn't even do anything to make me fall in love with him! NOTHING! Yes, there was the birthday party, and the sunrise this morning, but other than that, NOTHING! NOTHING!_

_Oh, gosh, I still have to tell him._

-o-

"Where are you going?" Derrick asked Massie as she passed him sitting down the couch.

"Out," Massie answered. Really, she couldn't stay inside the same house as Derrick right now. It was all so…confusing. Stupid emotions. She feels bad for not telling him. She also feels bad and slightly heartbroken because he might leave if he finds out. Then, she feels heartbroken because she's convinced that he doesn't like her the way she likes him.

And she also feels like attacking him and kissing him _right now._

"What time will you be back?" Derrick asked.

She shrugged. "No idea."

"Are you still mad at me for doing nothing?"

"Yes," she said, before closing the door behind her.

-o-

She ended up in the playground, which was already empty since it was just after sunset, and kids didn't stay out that late.

She climbed up in one of the jungle gyms, and sat down on the wooden surface, letting her legs dangle below her.

She was quiet for a while, letting her thoughts take over her brain.

_How am I supposed to tell him?_

_Should I just blurt it out? Should I tell him after dinner? How in the world am I even supposed to begin?_

"Ouch!" she said as something hard hit her arm and landed on the wood beside her. It was a penny. Someone threw her a _penny._

What the hell?

She looked down and saw Landon Crane looking up at her. "Penny for your thoughts?"

She rolled her eyes. "You fail," she said as he climbed the small ladder and sat beside her.

"Jungle gym? Really? Aren't you a little too old?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "No one was here anymore, so I went here. It's nice," she said.

"So…any special memories in this playground?" he asked, looking around. Obviously, this playground has been here for a long time.

"Not sure," Massie said, smiling as memories she forgot she had resurfaced. "I remember a lot of me falling down and being pushed."

"By who?" Landon asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Derrick." He was right.

"Well, did you push him back?"

"Of course."

"How did this start anyway? The animosity between you and Derrick?" Landon asked, throwing a pebble back to the ground.

"_That _is an amazing story," she said. "It all started when we were six. Derrick and I were on the swings; gosh, I love swings. Those swings, actually," she said, pointing to a pair of swings that had a "Wet Paint" sign on one of the poles. "Anyway, he stood up to go do something, and he stepped on my shoe. It was a white shoe, and it was new, so I got mad at him. I stood up, and I told him off for stepping on my shoe. He told me off for having my foot in his way, and he accused me of planning to trip him—I wasn't, by the way. Anyway, then I pushed him, and he didn't do anything at first, because his Mom said he shouldn't hit girls—come to think of it, Derrick never actually hit me. He just tripped me and pushed me and pulled my hair and—yeah, we should get back to the point. Anyway, he didn't push me, so I pushed him again, and then he pushed me, and we pushed each other until I fell over and cried."

"What happened then?" Landon asked, noting the way Massie's eyes lit up while she was telling their story.

"He got grounded for the first time," Massie said, laughing. "And that's why he was mad at me. Because he got grounded. Not even a time-out. It was a no TV, no playground thing."

_Bzzzzzz bzzzzzz_. Her phone vibrated and her smile faltered when she saw who the text message was from.

**Derrick: Where are you?  
Massie: Old playground.**

"What's wrong?" Landon asked, but before Massie could reply, her phone started buzzing again.

**Derrick: The one we used to go to and I always fought with you?  
Massie: Yep. Why?  
Derrick: Nothing.**

Massie didn't bother to reply anymore.

"That was Derrick?" Landon asked.

"Uh huh," Massie said, putting her phone beside her.

"Alicia told me about the…you know," Landon said, watching her to see how she reacted. She winced.

_Well, I never actually told her not to tell anyone else._

"You don't know how to tell him?" Landon asked.

"Nope."

"Do you even _want _to tell him?"

Massie was silent for a moment. "Honestly? No," she admitted. She trusted Landon. Maybe he could help her.

"Do you…_like _Derrick?" Landon asked, fearing her answer.

"Honestly?" Landon nodded. "I think I may be in love."

-o-

_She couldn't be anywhere more perfect than the playground, _Derrick said as he turned the curb.

He had hopped on his car and started driving the moment he received her message about the playground.

He decided he should just admit to her, right now.

And a plan was already formulating in his head.

-o-

"You're in love with Derrick?" Landon said as he placed a fake smile on his face.

"Yeah. I think I am," Massie said, looking at him. "Now, will you help me?"

He looked at her, and he thought, _Hell, just do it, Landon._

"I'm sorry, Massie, but I have to do this at least once," Landon said, earning him a bemused look from her. "I figured I'll never be able to do it if I didn't do it now."

And then he planted his lips on hers.

-o-

_Oh, my gosh, what just happened? _Massie thought as she stared at Landon's closed eyelids, mere centimeters away from her face. _Holy shiz, Landon's kissing me. Oh, my gosh, no. MASSIE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? PULL AWAY!_

And she did, staring wide eyed at him. And he looked horrified. _Yes. You should be horrified!_

But then she realized that he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at something behind her.

She turned around and she felt her eyes tingle and her stomach lurch and her heart break.

"What is this?" Derrick asked in a calm yet cold voice that killed Massie.

Landon jumped down from the jungle gym and approached Derrick, whose jaw stiffened. "Look, dude, it's not her fault—"

But he never got to finish because Derrick's fist collided with his jaw. "Guess blood is thinner than water, huh?" Derrick spat, and Massie gasped at his expression.

It was full of hate. Derrick hated Landon.

_Derrick hated Massie, too_.

"It's not like it's against the law! You're not even legally married!" Landon blurted out, while he clutched his jaw.

"What?" Derrick asked, not looking at Massie.

"You got married with fake IDs and without parental consent. Which means it's not legal," Landon said. "Alicia told me."

Derrick looked at Massie, silently asking her if it was true. She nodded, as their eyes met.

He stared at her in silence. His eyes betrayed no emotion. Her eyes were moist.

_Please yell at me so I can scream back at you, _she wanted to say. _Then, I'll know we'll be alright._

He didn't.

He turned around and left.

-o-

Massie stared at his retreating back, and he stared at the place where his car was even after he drove away.

"Massie," she heard Landon say from below her. "I'm sorry."

"Please," Massie whispered in a broken voice. "Please leave me alone."

-o-

**Massie: Can I sleep over?  
Kristen: Why?  
Massie: Please? I really just can't go home right now.  
Kristen: Okay. But why? We just had a sleepover.  
Massie: I need to cry.**

-o-

She looked up at the night sky, praying for shooting stars.

All she saw were airplanes.

_Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now... _

**I feel kind of bad for Landon. But not as bad as I feel for Massie and Derrick. **

**That last line was from Airplanes by B.o.B. featuring Hayley Williams. It was so corny, but I couldn't help it. (I find that giving in to someone's corny-ness is emotionally healthy.)**

**So sorry again for that page breaker incident and the whole post then repost thing.**

**The only reason I found out was because I decided to reply to people's reviews, and thought it would be easier to read them from fanfiction rather than from my mail.**

**So here are my replies (:**

_Overloaded Candy-coated: thanks (: and yeah, I'm trying to update a lot more._

_rstar: thanks! (:_

_WakeMeUpWhenItsYesterday: HAHA I AGREE. And thanks for saying that this story is fantastic, and this is your (almost) "reallyreallyreally soon" update!_

_WE: thanks! You don't know how much that means to me._

_Ceylon: I know. I wish they'd just admit it too ;) But then, I already planned out the whole plot, and I already wrote the ending…so…yeah…And Derrick was suppose to do something to reassure Massie, but then Landon did something else…_

_nanny kiwi gurl: HAHAHA YES THE FLUFFINESS ATTACKED YOU._

_fearless-lights: YES. I am so proud of myself right now for making you kind of sort of love my Massington fluff. I don't even really write fluff…_

_figureskatingismypassion: thanks! (:_

_xoxoDDLSG: Thanks for thinking this is fantasticalulous (how do you come up with these…these…Ericka-isms?). SNICKERDOODLE (:_

_ESTF: THANK YOU! OMG, WAKING UP IN VEGAS IS LIKE THE SUN! YAY! (Holy crap I just thought of something REALLY LAME…you know…THE SUN…then WAKING UP IN VEGAS? THE SUN? WAKING UP? Oh, my gosh, I need to get out more.)_

**I'm not sure if I'm going to reply to reviews each chapter, but I'll try (:**


	15. There's Someone I've Been Missing

**(title: come home – one republic feat. sara bareilles) **

**.:There's someone I've been missing:.**  
_I think that they could be the better half of me_

Massie Block was sure she had run out of tears.

She had spent all night at Kristen Gregory's house, not sleeping. She watched the whole first season of _Glee, _sang with all the songs, and cried at all the love songs. When Kristen asked her why she was crying when Kurt and Rachel sang Defying Gravity, she said it was because "they sang it so beautifully, and what Kurt did was so sweet."

She told Kristen everything, and Massie realized that it was amazing she had a best friend like this, who didn't care if Massie cried in front of the TV the whole night, eating Oreos.

Now, it was five a.m., Massie stopped crying, sure that she was out of tears. She was watching what she called the "Jesse episodes," those episodes that had Jesse St. James in them. She liked Jesse. He was her favorite for Rachel, and she really hopes he becomes a regular.

"Mass," Kristen said, and Massie turned around to face the blonde. "Are you going to school today?"

"Oh, crap. It's Monday. I forgot," Massie said. "Um…yeah. I'll go to school."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Then, we should at least take a nap or something."

**-o-**

The moment Massie walked into the school, she was surrounded by her friends. They already knew what happened, because Kristen called Alicia Rivera yesterday and Massie allowed her to tell the Hispanic. Massie also asked Alicia to explain to all the other girls, because she just couldn't explain again.

"Oh, Massie, your eyes look horrible," Dylan Marvil said. "It's kind of bloodshot and you look extremely tired."

"That would be because she watched _Glee_ the whole night, crying at all the love songs," Kristen explained.

"I have eye drops," Claire Lyons said, holding up a small bottle, and Massie took it. "Thanks. Bathroom?" Massie asked, and like any typical group of girls, they all went together.

The eye drops actually helped, reducing the bloodshot-ness, and kind of waking up her eyes.

"So…Massie," Alicia asked tentatively, after making sure that the bathroom was empty except for the five girls. "What are you going to do now?"

Massie was silent for a moment. "I don't really know."

"You want to talk to him? We can lock you up in a room together or something," Dylan said, and despite the small pang in her chest, Massie found Dylan's suggestion funny, mostly because of Dylan's energetic expression. She laughed.

"No need for that," Massie said. "Come on. We need to get to class."

**-o-**

Derrick Harrington was sure he felt too apathetic to do anything today.

It was Sammi who forced him to go to school, and when he asked her why she was even here when she should be in college, she said "Because I missed you."

Derrick scoffed and said, "Fine. I'll go to school. But only because you're here and I don't want to see you."

So now here he was, sitting under a birch tree in school, staring blankly at the school building.

"Dude, I think there's something wrong with him," he heard Cam Fisher say. Cam already knows what happened, since he was the one Derrick called. The other boys didn't know, and Derrick still wasn't sure if he should tell. They'll find out about it anyway, he was sure.

"I think he finally cracked," Kemp Hurley said.

"I can hear you, you know," Derrick said, looking at his friends.

"So, Derrick, what happened?" Josh Hotz said.

"What do you mean what happened?" Derrick said, faking ignorance.

"There's something wrong," Plovert said. "It's obvious. I mean, first, you're spacing out. Second, we've been talking for the past thirty minutes, and you've said, like, seven words. Third, you arrived in school alone."

"So?" Derrick snapped.

"Derrick, you haven't arrived alone in school in a long time," Plovert said.

"We're not talking about this," Derrick said, pulling out his iPod and plugging in his earphones. He turned it on, but the volume was low so that he knew what was happening.

"Hey, Kemp, there's Kristen," Josh said, looking behind Kemp at the blonde. "Man, she looks dead on her feet."

"Yeah. She watched _Glee_ the whole night. Then, she slept for an hour," Kemp explained, waving at Kristen.

"Why would she do that?" Plovert asked, looking at her heading inside the school.

Kemp lowered his voice to a whisper, and Derrick paused the song so he could hear. "Massie was there the whole night. They both didn't sleep," he said.

Derrick figured as much. He left the Guesthouse (really, what was the point of him staying?) at midnight, and Massie still wasn't home. He was sure she went to one of her friends. When he saw her in class (which was actually very awkward, since he's determinedly ignoring her), he could see that she was tired, and she obviously didn't sleep.

"Why would she be there?" Josh asked in a whisper.

Kemp shrugged. "Kristen wouldn't tell me. But, it's obviously connected to why Derrick's like this."

Derrick looked at his watch. They still had fifteen more minutes of lunch. Normally, they would only worry about being late _after _lunch ended. But Derrick was already tiring of this conversation. He pulled off his earphones and said, "Let's go. We might be late."

"Derrick, we have fifteen more minutes."

But he still stood up and walked back into school.

**-o-**

Massie didn't like this school day. She was feeling apathetic, but that wasn't her biggest problem now.

First of all, Derrick was ignoring her.

Second, Landon didn't go to school, so she couldn't talk to him about what happened.

Third, she was sleepy as hell.

But one good thing was it was already the last period, and they only had nine minutes of school left.

**-o-**

Nine minutes went by fast, and pretty soon, Massie was dragging her feet to Kemp's car (she was hitching a ride with Kristen and Kemp). Before she even got to the parking lot, she saw Landon Crane waiting for her by the cafeteria. He motioned for her to follow him inside the cafeteria, and Massie thought, "What the hell. There's nothing to lose anymore." She couldn't be more heartbroken—hell, by third period, Massie started to go numb, and by fourth, she was already completely apathetic.

So she followed him inside.

"Massie, I'm sorry," Landon said, wringing his hands together.

"I know," Massie said. Landon was a good person. Yes, what he did was bad, but still. He was a good friend.

"I shouldn't have done it."

"I know."

"I really didn't mean to do it, I was only caught up in the moment."

"I know."

"I'm really sorry."

"I know.

"So…how are you?"

"I don't know."

**-o-**

For some weird reason, Massie felt better after she talked to Landon. Maybe it was because she got the frustration out of her chest, and she got to talk to him about Derrick. She told him that she really liked Derrick, and might actually love her. He accepted that. She returned the necklace he gave her. He accepted that, too.

"Mass, we're here," Kemp said, looking at her cautiously. She knew he wanted to know what happened between her and Derrick, but if he wasn't telling, she wasn't, either.

"Thanks for the lift, Kemp. Bye, Kris," Massie said flatly, going out of the car.

"Bye, Mass. Call me if something goes wrong or…something," Kristen said.

"I will. Thanks," Massie said, managing a small smile.

She walked to the front of the guesthouse, but she stopped in front of the door. She didn't know what to expect.

Wait. Actually, she did.

She expected him to be gone.

She doesn't know why, but she turned up the music on her iPod before she opened the door. Maybe she thought louder music would make her feel better?

At first, the living room looked the same. But Massie saw the difference almost immediately. The soccer ball was gone. Some of the games were gone.

She climbed up the stairs, and stopped in the middle of the hall. Which door to open? The one on her left, or the one on her right? His room or hers? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and opened the one on her left.

She could see that he packed in a hurry. The closet doors were still open, the pillows and bed sheets were in a mess, and there were random scraps of paper on the floor.

Seeing it empty hurt worse than she thought.

This was really it. He was really gone. He was never coming back.

She slammed the door shut, and hastily entered her room before the tears came.

She waited, but they never did. Maybe she did run out of tears.

She plopped down on her bed, and kicked off her shoes. She usually took them off carefully, but right now, she really didn't care anymore.

She flipped over awkwardly, and hit something on her bedside table that crashed to the floor. She lifted her head up and looked down. And the sight broke her heart even more. It was the snow globe he gave her for her birthday, and it was now in pieces on her floor.

That was really it. They were broken.

The sight of the shattered snow globe made her want to cry, and it made her mad at herself.

But, really, she didn't have the energy or the tears anymore.

So she just put her head back down and listened to the music.

It was then that she finally paid attention to what she was listening to.

The song didn't make her cry, it didn't make her mad.

But it did cut her heart.

So, she pulled her earphones off the iPod and threw it to the door.

It crashed into the wood, and fell to the floor.

No one was there to catch it.

_Everything I can't be/Is everything you should be/And that's why I need you here/So hear this now/Come home/Come home/Cause I've been waiting for you/For so long/For so long/And right now there's a war between the vanities/But all I see is you and me/The fight for you is all I've ever known/So come home_

**Welcome, emo, apathetic Massie!**

**No, she won't really cut herself or turn emo.**

**But she will turn apathetic. **

**And my Massie-centered sentences would be less lively and less…expressive!**

**Okay, so, yeah, this is just a filler to show you how everyone's doing. Landon's being remorseful, Derrick's being defensive, and Massie's being apathetic!**

**Oh, joy!**

**Hopefully next chapter will be up sooner…**

**OMG! I RHYMED IN TWO OF THE LAST SENTENCES!**


	16. I Could Tear You Apart

**Okay. Sorry for the wait. I had a lot of things I had to do, and I couldn't find time to finish this…**

**Anyway…**

**OMG, SECOND TO THE LAST CHAPTER :O**

**Title: All We Are – One Republic**

**I could tear you apart  
**_but it won't break anything that we are_

"Massie? Massie!" Alicia Rivera called out, snapping Massie Block out of her trance. Massie jerked and looked at her. "Yeah?"

"You've been spacing out the whole day," Alicia pointed out.

"More like the whole week," Claire Lyons added.

"That's not true," Massie protested. Has she? Has she been spacing out the whole week? Massie looked back. There was that time in Art class. And then in English. And Algebra. And Trigonometry. And PE. And History. And…yeah.

Oh. So she was.

"Plus, there is this whole apathy thing. Like, you didn't even care that you failed that one worksheet in English, and I know that you're supposed to care, because you pride yourself in knowing all about Greek Mythology, and not just from reading _Percy Jackson_," Dylan Marvil pointed out.

Massie shrugged.

There goes that apathy again.

"Are you okay, Massie? Because you keep telling us you are, but we keep on doubting you because of your behavior," Kristen Gregory said, surveying the brunette.

"I'm perfectly fine," she said.

But they kept doubting her.

-o-

"What are we supposed to do?" Derrick Harrington asked his teammate, Dempsey Solomon.

"Run laps," Dempsey said before running off.

"Right," Derrick said before her ran off in the same direction as Dempsey.

"Dude, what's up?" Cam Fisher asked, slowing down to talk to Derrick.

"Nothing," Derrick said vaguely. "Just…nothing."

"You know, you've been kind of disoriented and scatter-brained this past week," Cam said.

"I know, man," Derrick said, looking back. There was that time in Art class when he was supposed to be drawing a forest, and he ended up thinking he was supposed to draw a zoo. And a time in Trigonometry when he was supposed to get the missing angles using that weird SOHCAHTOA method. And he thought it was SAHCOHTOA. He failed the worksheet given at the end. So, yeah, he wasn't paying attention, and he was confused as to what he was supposed to do most of the time.

"You okay?" Cam asked.

Derrick shrugged, like it was no big deal.

-o-

Massie immediately went home after school, heading straight into the Main House and not looking out her window at all.

"Darling!" her mother called out the moment Massie went through the door. "I have some great news for you!"

"Okay?"

"But don't tell your father yet, okay?"

"Sure?"

"Are you ready for my big announcement?" her mother asked, looking at her daughter expectantly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm pregnant!"

"Really?" Massie said, feigning shock. Is it weird that this wasn't fazing her at all?

"Yeah! Isn't this so great?"

"Yeah! Oh, my gosh, I'm going to be an older sister!" Massie said, still feigning happiness and excitement. Shouldn't she be excited? This was big family news!

"I know!" her Mom said, small tears forming in her eyes. "But don't tell your father, okay?"

No chance of that. She was probably too apathetic to be excited to tell him. "I promise," Massie said, smiling.

"Good. Now go to your room. You look tired, sweetie," her mom said, brushing her daughter's hair back.

_Oh, you have no idea_. "Thanks, Mom," Massie said, then added, "And congratulations."

When she got to her room, she flopped down on her bed and just stared at her ceiling, too tired to do anything else.

What kind of older sister would she be?

-o-

"Pass the sugar, Derrick," Sammi Harrington said during dinner time, looking at her younger brother.

"Here," Derrick mumbled, handing her the mashed potatoes.

"_Sugar_, Derrick. _Sugar_, not _mashed potatoes_," Sammi pointed out, standing up and reaching across the table to get the sugar, even if that was considered improper table etiquette.

"Sorry," Derrick vaguely said.

"Derrick, are you okay?" Pauline Harrington asked her son.

"Actually, Mom, no, I'm not," Derrick admitted, and his mom's face turned worried.

"Are you feeling sick? Should we set up an appointment with Dr. Wood?" his mom asked.

"No, no need for that." Derrick hated Dr. Wood. "Can I just skip dinner?"

"Sure, honey," Pauline said, that worried expression still on her face.

"Thanks, Mom."

-o-

In the middle of the night, Massie was still in her school clothes, still staring up at the ceiling, when she had an epiphany. And epiphany that was so obvious it's a wonder she took this long to realize it.

She had to do something.

Massie knew she had to do something. If she wanted him back, she had to do something. She knew Derrick. He would never make the first move. So, she had to do it. And she had to do it now.

It was two a.m. in the morning, but she grabbed her coat and slipped off her noisy flats. She grabbed her phone and grabbed a new pair of quieter canvas sneakers before sneaking barefoot out of her house.

When she got to the road, she slipped on her sneakers before she turned around and looked at her house. Oh, gosh. Derrick's house wasn't that far; still, it would be a lot faster if she wasn't _walking _there. It made her wish she knew how to ride a bike(yes, she did _not_ know how to ride a bike, thank you very much).

She sighed and started walking.

-o-

After eight minutes of walking, Massie realized something.

She was completely losing her mind. She was going insane. She was crazy.

And, really, she didn't really care.

-o-

Massie was five minutes away from Derrick's house when she thought of something else that was crazy.

And, since she was already doing something completely out of the ordinary, she decided to just do it.

So she grabbed her phone and called Derrick. She was relying on the fact that it was almost two-thirty in the morning, and Derrick wouldn't bother checking who was calling him. He would just answer, and be too shocked and confused and groggy to hang up on her or something.

He picked up after the seventh ring, with a bleary but clearly annoyed "What?"

"Derrick, don't hang up," Massie said, not bothering with formalities.

"Massie?" he asked, his voice sounding clearer and less sleepy.

"Yes, and I don't care if you don't want to talk. _I _want to talk and _don't_ hang up," she said.

"Massie," he said, sounding slightly exasperated. "It's two-thirty-seven a.m. Can we please talk tomorrow? You know, _when the sun is up_."

"No," Massie said, and before he could ask why, she answered. "Because tomorrow, you'll just avoid me and not talk to me. So, no. We talk now."

"What do you want to talk about?" Derrick asked, and Massie felt relieved. She knew that tone of voice. It means he was resigned to the fact that he won't be able to get out of this. He would talk to her.

"I want to talk about us."

"Us?"

"Yes, us."

"Massie." He sighed. "There is no us."

"No, Derrick," she countered. "There will always be an _us_. No matter what happens."

"Fine. What do you want to say?"

"I want to explain that night."

"I don't really want to hear your explanation right now."

"I don't care. You will listen," Massie said. "One way or another," she mumbled, but he heard no matter how low her voice was.

"One way or another?" Derrick echoed. "Massie, what does that mean?" he asked warily.

Massie surveyed her surroundings. She was in front of Derrick's neighbor's house. She half-ran in front of his house and positioned herself where she can be clearly seen.

"I'm, uh," Massie started. _Oh, gosh, this is so crazy_. "I'm outside."

"Outside?" Derrick asked. "Outside your house? Or outside…my house?"

"Your house."

"Holy shit, Massie," he said before Massie heard scrambling and a minute later, he emerged from the house, phone still in ear. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I have no idea," Massie said, snapping her phone shut. He did the same with his phone. And for a minute, they just looked at each other, disbelief and shock and hopefulness crossing their faces.

Then they both slipped on their blank faces.

"So, yeah. I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Massie said, looking down at her sneakers.

"Me too," Derrick said.

Massie's head snapped up at what she heard. "You're sorry?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I mean, I think I should've listened to you first."

"Whoa," Massie said, momentarily distracted. Then she remembered what she was here for. "I'm sorry, too. For…you know."

"Sammi forced me to listen to the story last night after she finished with her dinner."

"What?" Massie asked, confused. Sammi? Why would Sammi know "the story"?

"Oh, come on, Massie," Derrick said, like it was the most obvious thing. "Have you forgotten? Landon's my cousin. Sammi's my sister. Their cousins, too. Sammi somehow forced the story out of him."

Actually, Massie _had_ forgotten Landon was Derrick's cousin. But that doesn't matter right now.

"And?" Massie asked hopefully. Oh, gosh, her heart was beating freakishly fast she's scared she might get a heart attack.

"And…well, I don't really have to forgive you, do I? You did nothing wrong."

Massie bit her lip to keep from smiling. Not yet.

"And?"

"And…uh…how do I say this?" Derrick said, running his hand through his hair. "Okay, I don't know how I'm going to say this because I've never said it before, so I'm just going to say it." He took a deep breath. "I love you."

Massie felt the wind knocked out of her. "What?" she said, her amber eyes widening in shock.

"Wasn't that what I was supposed to say?" Derrick said, spots of red appearing on his cheeks.

"I was expecting something along the lines of 'let's be friends again,'" Massie said truthfully. "But this is so much better," she said, smiling so big she suspected her cheeks would explode.

"And?" he prompted.

"And I love you too," she said, blushing.

-o-

"I was so apathetic," Massie said, after telling Derrick all about the past week. She loved the feeling of her hand in his as they walked. Yes, it was 4 a.m. and they were walking out, heading nowhere.

"Massie Block, apathetic? No way," Derrick said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Shut up," she said. "But, yeah. I was so apathetic, I didn't even feel anything when my mother announced that—oh my gosh!"

"What? What happened?" he said, looking around.

"My mother is pregnant," Massie said, her eyes widening and a general expression of shock and disbelief crossing her face.

Derrick breathed in a sigh of relief. "Congratulations."

"I'm going to be an older sister," she said, like she never expected this to happen to her. Which was true.

"Massie, you're so weird sometimes. Have I ever told you that?" he said, glad that the non-apathetic Massie was back.

**So, yeah. Hello. Long wait for this. I'm sorry. I had a lot of things happening. So. Uh. Almost done with the story. Isn't that so weird? **


	17. And When You Smile

**SO SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING AND IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER :O**

**Yeah. It's done. Whoa.**

**Anyway…**

**TITLE: Just The Way You Are – Bruno Mars. I love that song.**

**I don't own anything.**

**and when you smile,**  
_the whole world stops and stares for awhile_

"Derrick! You're not doing it properly!"

"Yes I am, Massie! This is how you said I should do it!"

"No! _This _is how you do it! You're doing it all wrong!"

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not as _artistic_ as you!"

"Then why'd you volunteer to be in the Prom Committee?"

"You said you needed help! I thought I'd just be lifting stuff! I'm good at that!"

"Fine! Then go and lift yourself out of my sight!"

"Fine!"

-o-

"What is up with her?" Derrick Harrington asked Cam Fisher and Josh Hotz as the walked towards the edge of the gym.

"PMS?" Josh tried, shrugging. Derrick gave him the you're-totally-not-helping look. He turned towards Cam. He noticed that Cam knew something.

"Spill it, freak eyes."

"Well, Dylan mentioned something…" Cam said, trailing off. After Derrick glared at him, he decided to just say it. "Dude, you're both in the Prom Committee. Prom is a week from now. Plovert has already asked Claire. Josh has already asked Alicia. Kemp has already asked Kristen. I've already asked Dylan. You _haven't_ asked Massie."

"Is that why she's so pissed at me?" Derrick asked, incredulous. "I still have to ask her? I thought it was already given that we would be going together!"

"Girls like being asked in special ways," Cam pointed out.

"How did you ask Dylan then?" Derrick asked defensively.

"Lunch announcements. The whole school heard it. Don't you remember?"

Derrick did remember. "How did you ask Alicia?" he asked Josh.

"Through my best friend, Mrs. Patter. During that test she gave last week, I asked her to add one more question at the very end of Alicia's test. _To Alicia Rivera: Will you go to prom with Josh Hotz? Encircle yes or no._ Alicia encircled yes," Josh said, a smug expression on his face. He spent a whole week thinking of that. And another week trying to convince Mrs. Patter.

"How did Plovert ask Claire?" Derrick asked, now desperate for ideas.

"Gave her a balloon in the middle of her class with the word PROM on it. With the question mark."

"How did Kemp ask Kristen?"

"He had those five freshmen boys that idolize him write P, R, O, M and a question mark on each of their chests."

"Why are they all so…romantic and perfect for girls?" Derrick asked, kind of disappointed that none of them just _asked. _If at least one of them did, he could do the same!

"Dude. We're from Briarwood-Octavian Country Day High School. If there's one thing BOCDH boys know how to do, it's how to ask girls to prom. It's a legacy here. How have you not heard of it?" Cam asked, remembering how Harris bragged to him about asking a girl to prom.

"I have," Derrick admitted after a few seconds of thinking about it. Now he remembered. All those older soccer teammates going on about how they were asking girls to prom. All the excited buzz and gossip going on around this time.

He had to think and move fast.

"Help me."

-o-

"I just don't get it! I've been dropping all the hints. He's obviously seen all the other boys asking girls to prom! How can he not do anything?" Massie Block complained to her friends.

"Maybe he's waiting for the right time," Dylan Marvil suggested.

"Yeah! Maybe he's making you wait so that when he finally asks, it'll be ten times better!" Claire Lyons added.

"Who the hell waits a week before prom to ask someone out? I still need to find a dress!" Massie said.

"You don't have a dress yet?" Kristen Gregory asked.

"No, since if he doesn't ask me, I'm not going."

"No! Go!" Alicia Rivera exclaimed.

"Why would I? If he doesn't ask me, it'll be too embarrassing for me to go. Everyone'll talk about me and how my boyfriend-slash-guy-I-used-to-think-I-was-married-to never asked me," Massie said defensively and sadly.

"But, Massie, we'll be there for you."

"No. You have your dates. I'll be the awkward ninth wheel."

"I'm sure he'll ask you soon," Kristen reassured.

"I hope."

-o-

"Hey, Kristen," Derrick said, a winning smile on his lips.

She didn't buy it. "What do you want?"

"I need your help."

-o-

Massie was walking down the hallway when some freshman kid went up right in front of her and showed her a one-eighth piece of illustration board with the word "WILL" written on it.

"Hello, Will." _Freshmen kids are just getting weirder and weirder._

He moved away, and she continued forward. Twenty steps later, another freshman, this time a girl, showed her another illustration board, this time with the word "YOU" written on it.

Weird.

A few steps later, it happened again. This time, the illustration board had the word "GO" written on it.

And Massie's heart went.

_Pound. Pound. Pound._

Massie was smart. She knew what was happening now. Or she thought she knew. She couldn't be sure until she reached the end. She walked faster, only now realizing that she was alone in the hallway.

Freshman pops up. "TO"

_Pound. Pound. Pound. _

Walk.

Freshman. "PROM"

Yes!

_Pound. Pound. Pound._

Walk faster.

Stop.

What if this wasn't for her? What if the freshmen got the wrong girl? What if this was for some other girl?

_Okay, Massie. Breathe. Just walk slower. And look calmer. Wipe that freaking silly smile of your face. Look unaffected and poker-faced, so that when you reach the end and this is for some other girl, you can pretend that you knew all along and that your heart didn't just break._

_Yeah. _

Walk. Slower this time.

Freshman. "WITH"

_Okay. Last one. You can do this, Massie._

_Pound._

_(Please be for me.)_

_Pound._

_(Please be for me.)_

_Pound._

_(Please be for me.)_

…

…

…

Door.

_What? _

_I knew it. This wasn't for me. They finally realized, and they stopped the last freshman from going out to meet me. I knew it. I should just go out now and go home and face the fact that Derrick's not going to ask me._

She opens the door leading to the parking lot.

_Pound. _

_Pound. _

_Pound._

_Poundpoundpound._

_POUNDPOUNDPOUND._

Derrick.

Rose in his outstretched hand.

"ME?" written on illustration board in his hand.

Freshmen from behind her lining up beside him.

"_WILL YOU GO TO PROM WITH ME?_"

She has no idea what to say right now.

"Yes," she breathes out.

**Okay, yeah, that was the end ): So, they went to prom, and then after that, they survived college, and then lived happily ever after. You know, even if they still argue about stupid things a lot.**

**THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS STUCK WITH THIS STORY UNTIL THE END AND FORGAVE ME FOR ALL THE STUPID NOT-UPDATING TIMES AND FOR REVIEWING AND READING.**

**You guys are the best, I swear.**


End file.
